Feb 21,2023: President Vladimir Putin today said Russia was suspending its participation in the New START treaty with the U.S. that limits the two sides’ strategic nuclear arsenals. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken later dubbed the decision “deeply unfortunate and irresponsible.”
Putin provided an assessment of Moscow’s so-called “special military operation” in Ukraine and the impact on Russia’s economy during his state of the nation address Tuesday.
Putin accused Ukraine and the West of provoking the conflict with the expansion of NATO and new European anti-rocket defense systems.
“They started the war, and we used the force in order to stop it,” Putin said according to a translation of the speech in Moscow.
Elsewhere, China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, is due to visit Moscow Tuesday. He may meet with Putin, according to Russian officials.
The visit follows a surprise trip by U.S. President Joe Biden to Kyiv Monday, when he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ahead of the invasion’s one-year anniversary on Friday.
During the visit, Biden pledged to deliver a new package of U.S. aid to Ukraine worth $500 million. The funding includes artillery ammunition, anti-armour systems and air surveillance radars.
U.S. dubs Russia’s nuclear treaty suspension ‘deeply unfortunate and irresponsible’
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday that Russia’s decision to suspend its participation in a nuclear arms control treaty was “deeply unfortunate and irresponsible.”
“The announcement by Russia that it’s suspending participation is deeply unfortunate and irresponsible,” Blinken told reporters in Athens.
“We’ll be watching carefully to see what Russia actually does. We’ll of course make sure that in any event, we are postured appropriately for the security of our own country and that of our allies,” he added.
Putin’s state of the nation address Tuesday proved that he is in “a completely different reality,” a senior aide to Ukrainian President Zelenskyy said.
During his speech, Putin said Ukraine and the West had “started the war,” citing the expansion of NATO and new European anti-rocket defense systems as justification for Russia’s invasion of its neighbor.
