On Monday, Russia’s foreign ministry expressed concern about the United States’ enforcement of the New START nuclear weapons control treaty, claiming that the number of U.S. launchers and bombers had met the agreed-upon cap, Reuters reports.
The New START pact between Russia and the United States was renewed in February. It is an important part of global arms control because it restricts the number of strategic nuclear warheads, missiles, and bombers that Russia and the U.S. will deploy.
Russia’s foreign ministry made the comments as part of a drive to hold a summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Joe Biden next month, citing the two countries’ deteriorating relations. Russia has previously stated that it was preparing plans for the meeting’s potential agenda.
The ministry said in a statement that 56 US rockets and 41 heavy bombers had been withdrawn from Washington’s announced arsenal, but Moscow couldn’t guarantee that they were no longer nuclear-capable. Four underground missile silos had also been omitted from the count, according to the study.
