Biden says Putin has made a ‘BIG MISTAKE’ in suspending vital nuclear arms control treaty as meets with eastern allies on the frontline against Russia
President Joe Biden on Wednesday condemned Vladimir Putin‘s decision to suspend Russian cooperation with the last remaining U.S.-Russia nuclear arms control treaty, further escalating tensions between Washington and Moscow.
Putin made the announcement he in his state-of-the-nation address on Tuesday, as he railed against the West.
A day later, Biden was asked for his response just ahead of a meeting with eastern European allies in Warsaw.
‘Big mistake,’ was his terse response.
Russia has the world’s biggest nuclear arsenal – inherited from the Soviet Union – and up until the COVID pandemic was subjected to constant inspections and control from the U.S., which comes in a close second.
The monitoring was part of the New START treaty.
But the deal was already in trouble. Last month American officials accused Moscow of violating the agreement by refusing to allow inspections.
Vladimir Putin signaled an end to formal arms control between the world’s two biggest nuclear superpowers when he announced he would suspend Russia’s participation in the New Start treaty on Tuesday
They said privately they expected Russia to announce it was giving up on the treaty, but had not expected that decision to come so soon.
Biden’s comments came as he was coming to the end of four-day visit to Poland and Ukraine.
Wednesday brought talks with leaders from the Bucharest Nine, a collection of nations in the most eastern parts of the NATO alliance, putting them on the alliance’s frontline after Putin’s 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.