Russia Notifies US of Temporary Withdrawal of Its Facilities From Inspections Under New START Treaty

Russia’s Foreign Ministry announced that inspections of Russian facilities performed under the New START treaty will be suspended temporarily.

On August 8, Russia announced that it will no longer allow the US to conduct inspections of Russian facilities under the auspices of the New START treaty.

A statement released by Russia's Foreign Ministry says the move was carried out in accordance with a clause in the Protocol to the New START, which stipulates such actions can be performed in exceptional cases and for the sake of goals that do not contradict the treaty.

"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.

The ministry pointed out that Russia notified the US that the anti-Russian sanctions enacted by Washington had upset the parity in the inspections conducted under the auspices of the New START, but received no reply from the US side.

"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."

The ministry noted, however, that the suspension of inspections of Russian facilities is only a temporary measure.

Namely, as soon as the existing problems related to the "resumption of inspections" - of the US facilities, apparently - are resolved, Moscow will cancel the suspension, as Russia is fully committed to complying with all the provisions of the treaty, the ministry said.