Russia temporarily halts US inspections of its nuclear weapons' sites under START treaty

In a major setback to arms control, Russia has decided to temporarily halt a provision of the 2010 START treaty that enabled the United States and Russian inspectors to visit each other's nuclear weapons installations. Earlier, the mutual inspections were put on hold as a safety measure owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the Russian Foreign Ministry on Monday, August 8, gave another justification for why Moscow is reluctant to resume them. It stated that the decision to not resume inceptions has been taken as US sanctions restricted the visit of Russian inspectors to Washington. 

“There are no similar obstacles to the arrival of American inspectors in Russia. We raised this issue with the relevant countries but did not receive an answer," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The START treaty places restrictions on delivery methods and caps the number of deployed strategic warheads at 1,550 for each nation. The treaty was further extended for five years in February 2021.

The decision to suspend inspections is temporary: Russia

It is the only arms control agreement between the US and Russia, and its inspection and verification provisions are widely seen as essential to fostering mutual trust and averting nuclear error. "We look forward to continuing close cooperation with the American side. We spoke and continue to speak in favour of considering the problem of resuming the inspection measures provided for by the treaty from the most realistic positions," the Russian Foreign Ministry added. It also stressed that the decision to suspend inspections is temporary, and Russia is fully committed to complying with all the provisions of the START treaty.

START treaty requires continued communication between Russia & US: Kremlin

Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated on Tuesday that START nuclear weapons treaty requires continued communication between Russia and the United States. "Time will tell. We haven't received any specific proposals on this yet. But once again we repeat: dialogue is necessary," he told reporters, while responding on if Russia was prepared to offer more proposals on START to the US, or if it was waiting for Washington's response, as per CNN. According to a US State Department spokesperson, the country's approach to implementing the START treaty will continue to be guided by the principles of reciprocity, mutual predictability, and mutual stability.

Image: AP