Russia Not Leaving New START 'Very Important', Ex-Pentagon Advisor Says

On Wednesday, the Russian parliament's lower and upper houses approved a bill to suspend Russia's participation in the New START Treaty, a decision that was announced by President Vladimir Putin during his address to the Federal Assembly earlier this week.

The fact that Russia has suspended its participation in the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) instead of withdrawing from it is “very important”, retired US Army colonel Douglas Macgregor said in a YouTube interview.

“Keep in mind that he’s suspended the treaty. […] The word ‘suspend’ suggests that in some future day he would be willing to restore it. We should regard that as positive, frankly,” Macgregor said, referring to Putin's decision.

The ex-US army colonel, who served as Pentagon advisor under former President Donald Trump, added that “it’s in our interest to restore the treaty at some point and I think he [Putin]’s made that point”. According to Macgregor, “we have enough explosive power between the United States and Russia to destroy the planet; end of discussion.”

In this vein, the former Pentagon advisor also argued without elaborating that “Russia’s been betrayed by us and he [Putin]’s got a record to prove it.”

Macgregor spoke a day after the Russian president announced the suspension of his country’s participation in the new START Treaty during his address to the Federal Assembly on February 21. Putin cited Washington’s efforts to “inflict a strategic defeat” on Moscow and help Ukraine launch drone attacks against Russia’s strategic deterrent while “absurdly” calling for more nuclear inspections.

The Russian Foreign Ministry pledged that Moscow would continue to comply with quantitative restrictions on strategic offensive arms despite the new START’s suspension.

The New START, in effect since February 5, 2011, is the last remaining legally binding agreement between the US and Russia. Under the document, Moscow and Washington have been required to reduce their nuclear arsenal to a total of 700 missiles, 800 launchers and 1,550 deployed warheads. The treaty was set to expire last year, but both sides managed to find common ground to approve a prolongation of the accord for five more years without renegotiating any of its terms.