Biden Slams Putin’s New START Suspension As “Big Mistake”; State Duma Ratifies Decision

In Wednesday remarks from Warsaw, President Biden addressed Putin’s decision to suspend Russian participation in the New START nuclear arms control pact, announced the day prior.

President Biden slammed the move as a “big mistake” in comments to reporters as he walked into the presidential palace in Warsaw just ahead of the meeting with leaders of NATO eastern flank countries. Additionally, Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned Putin’s decision as “deeply unfortunate and irresponsible.”

As The Hill reviews of the timing of Putin’s statements, “The Kremlin made the announcement in remarks on Tuesday, just hours before Biden made remarks to mark the anniversary of the war in Ukraine. Putin in his speech also rehashed long-held grievances against the U.S., NATO and the government in Kyiv.”

In March 2021 the two sides renewed New START for a period of five years, and it will expire in February 2026 if it’s not continued –  at this point a likelihood given US-Russia relations have deteriorated so fast over the Ukraine war they are near complete breaking point. But this new Putin declaration appears to be the final death knell after the treaty’s fate was already extremely uncertain.

The treaty is intended to limit and reduce nuclear arms on either side, setting a limit of no more than 1,550 deployed warheads and 700 missiles. START I began in 1991, with New START signed under the Obama and Medvedev administrations in 2010 as a successor agreement.

On Wednesday Russian parliament formally ratified Putin’s decision to withdraw from the treaty, as Tass reports:

Russia’s Federation Council unanimously passed the bill on suspension of the New Strategic Arms Reduction (New START) Treaty Wednesday.

The document was introduced to the State Duma by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Duma unanimously passed the bill earlier on Wednesday. The effect of the New START Treaty is now being suspended, and the decision to restore it will be for the Russian President to make. The law will enter into effect at the moment of its official publication.

Now Kremlin officials are saying that New START’s restoration will rest in US hands. 

“There are chances that the New START will be reinstated as it was, but that completely and utterly depends on US behavior, its comprehension, or the failure to comprehend, that the policy it conducts toward Russia is malignant,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said.

⚡️We will protect every centimeter of NATO countries, article 5 is sacred — Biden a few moments ago pic.twitter.com/2Etg5tBZPy

— War Monitor (@WarMonitors) February 22, 2023

But if the current “anti-Russian focus remains in place,” then it will be hard to imagine that Moscow will return to compliance with the treaty, Ryabkov added, per state media.

At the same time, Chairman of the Federation Council’s Defense and Security Committee Viktor Bondarev has stressed that while every step should be taken not to push world closer to nuclear disaster, the decision will ultimately help to strengthen Russia’s defense capabilities.