Russian MPs approve suspension of US nuclear pact

The Russian parliament's lower house on Wednesday quickly approved President Vladimir Putin's move to suspend the recent nuclear arms treaty with the United States, with officials and lawmakers calling it a recent warning to Washington amid tensions over Ukraine.

Putin said Moscow was suspending its participation in the new 2010 START treaty in his speech to the nation's state on Tuesday, saying Russia could not accept the inspections of its nuclear countries' United States under the pact, while Washington and its NATO allies have declared the goal of losing Russia in Ukraine.

The Russian president stressed that Moscow was not completely pulling out of the pact, and the Russian Foreign Ministry said the country would respect the nuclear weapons boundaries imposed under the treaty and would continue to announce the US for testing ballistic missile concessions.

Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Russia's Security Council led by Putin, stressed on Wednesday that the suspension of Russia's participation in the pact was a signal to the US that Moscow is willing to use nuclear weapons to defend itself.

If the U.S. wants Russia lost, we have the right to defend ourselves with every weapon, including the” core, Medvedev said in his message application channel. “Let the American elites who have lost touch with reality think about what they got. If the United States wants Russia defeated, we are on the verge of a global conflict”.

Leonid Slutsky, head of the foreign affairs committee in the lower room, Duma State, stressed that the suspension is “returnable and can be revised if our Western opponents return to reason and realise their responsibility for destroying the global security system”.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov also noted it is up to Putin to decide whether Moscow can return to the pact. The president will determine whether and when the conditions for review or clarification of yesterday's” decision will arise, he told reporters, the Associated Press broadcast Klonkosova.tv.

Ryabkov stressed that Russia's surveillance ability would allow him to keep track of US nuclear forces even without the data exchange and inspections that were envisioned by the new START.

“We will certainly follow the actions of the US and its allies closely and take further counter measures if it is necessary”, Ryabkov said.