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Why Putin suspended Russia's part in New START
Summary
A look back at the arms control decision announced on 21 February 2023, and at a joint naval exercise held days earlier.
What did it mean when Russia suspended its participation in the last nuclear arms control pact with the United States? On 21 February 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the suspension of Russia's role in the New START treaty.
The stated reason was tied directly to the war in Ukraine. Putin cited the goal of the United States to defeat Russia in that war. The treaty was the last remaining nuclear arms control pact between Moscow and Washington, so the decision left no such agreement in force in which Russia took part.
The announcement came against a wider backdrop of military alignment. On 17 February 2023, the South African Navy began hosting a ten-day joint exercise in the Indian Ocean with Russia and China. The exercise was named "Mosi II", after the Tswana word for "smoke".
Together, the two developments showed Russia linking arms control to the war in Ukraine while military cooperation with other countries continued. The stated link between the treaty and the war is the central point: Moscow framed its decision as a response to Washington's aims in Ukraine, rather than as a dispute over the treaty alone.
