Moscow notifies US of suspending New START inspections in Russia

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Russian Foreign Ministry said on Monday that Russia officially informed the United States that it was temporarily withdrawing from inspection activities under the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) its facilities that are subject to inspections under this agreement. Moscow is forced to withdraw its facilities from New START inspections due to the United States' actions, which deprive Russia of the right to inspections in the US.

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"On August 8, 2022, the Russian Federation officially informed the United States of America through diplomatic channels that our country was temporarily withdrawing its facilities subject to inspections under this Treaty from inspection activities under the New START. This exemption also applies to facilities where screenings stipulated by the Treaty may be held," the ministry said in a statement, explaining that such actions are provided for by clause 5 of section I of chapter five of the New START protocol.

"They can be taken in exceptional cases and for purposes that do not contradict the Treaty. The Russian Federation is now forced to resort to this measure as a result of Washington's persistent desire to implicitly achieve a restart of inspection activities on terms that do not take into account existing realities, create unilateral advantages for the United States, and actually deprive the Russian Federation of the right to carry out inspections on the US territory," the document says.

Moscow raised the issue of western sanctions breaching parity in inspections under the New START but received no answer, the statement added.

"As a result of the anti-Russian unilateral restrictive measures taken at Washington's initiative, regular air traffic between Russia and the United States was interrupted, and the airspace of states that are allies and partners of the United States was closed to Russian aircraft delivering Russian inspection teams to points of entry on the US territory," the ministry said, noting that "there are no similar obstacles to the arrival of US inspectors in Russia."

Additional difficulties arise for Russian inspectors and crew members of Russian aircraft traveling to the United States as a result of tightening of "the visa regime in transit countries along their possible routes, again within the framework of anti-Russian unilateral restrictive measures inspired by Washington," the ministry explained.

"US inspectors and flight crew members do not experience such difficulties. All these and other issues known to the United States, on which the parties are exchanging through the channels provided for this, require a decision, without which it would be premature to resume inspection activities under the New START, which the US side insists on," the ministry said.

Russia will immediately cancel the suspension when issues related to inspections under the New START are resolved, the statement said, and Russia is fully committed to complying with all the provisions of the treaty.

The ministry stressed that Russia highly appreciated the treaty's unique role in ensuring transparency and predictability in ties between Moscow and Washington in the critically important nuclear and missile sphere.

Russia is ready to contribute to resolving problems related to the inspection activities under the New START and expects a similar intention by Washington, the statement concluded.