US stops sharing information with Russia on nuclear weapons

The U.S. announced on June 1 that it has stopped sharing some key information on nuclear weapons with Russia due to Moscow's unilateral suspension of the New START Treaty.

Washington took this step as a countermeasure to what it called an illegal violation of the nuclear arms treaty, the State Department said in a fact sheet published online.

According to the fact sheet, the U.S. will no longer facilitate inspections or provide information on the location, status, and launches of its intercontinental and submarine-launched ballistic missiles.

New START, signed by the two countries in 2010, set a 1,550 limit on the number of nuclear warheads and a total limit of 700 on intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM), and heavy bombers for each party.

The treaty also stipulated mutual monitoring and inspections of nuclear arsenals.

While Russia has no formally withdrawn from the treaty, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin on Feb. 28 suspended his country's participation, saying it would "not allow" the U.S. or NATO countries to inspect its nuclear arsenal.

"With today's decision on New START, the whole arms control architecture has been dismantled," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said regarding Putin’s decision.

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The Kyiv IndependentIllia Ponomarenko