Russia tells U.S. it is suspending inspections under START weapons treaty

Russia has told the United States it is suspending inspection activities under the START arms control treaty, the Russian foreign ministry said on Monday, adding that Moscow remains committed to all provisions of the treaty.

Russia has been forced to “resort to this measure as a result of Washington’s insistence that it will inevitably seek to restart inspection activities on conditions that do not take current realities into account”, the ministry said.

The conditions proposed by Washington also “create unilateral advantages for the United States and effectively deprive the Russian Federation of the right to conduct inspections on American territory”, it added.

The Kremlin told the United States last week that time was running out to negotiate a replacement for the “New START” treaty and that, if it expired in 2026 without a replacement, global security would be weakened.