ALBAWABA - The State Duma adopted, on Wednesday, a law suspending Russia's participation in START III treaty, officially known as Measures for Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Weapons, signed with the United States.
The bill stipulates, according to a statement issued by the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia (The State Duma), the suspension of the treaty concluded between the Russian Federation and the U.S. and aimed at reducing and limiting strategic offensive weapons.
This comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Tuesday that Russia had suspended its participation in the Russian-American treaty to reduce strategic weapons.
He said in a speech that the West wanted to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia "and for this reason, it became my duty to announce that Russia will suspend its participation in the START Treaty."
However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov revealed that Russia would be willing to continue with the treaty, as soon as the West accommodates Moscow's legitimate concerns.
But, with Britain, France and the U.S. expressing their regret over the Russian decision, this seems out of the question.
START III agreement was signed in 2010 by U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and aims to limit the ceiling of each of the U.S. and Russian powers' arsenals to 1550 nuclear warheads.
It is an extension of the "START I", Strategic Offensive Arms Reduction Treaty, signed between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.
