US Announces ‘Countermeasures’ to Russian Suspension of Nuclear Treaty

The Joe Biden administration will walk away from some of its obligations in the New Start Treaty in response to the Kremlin ending its participation in the agreement earlier this year.

A State Department fact sheet said, “Four lawful countermeasures in response to the Russian Federation’s ongoing violations of the New START Treaty” have been implemented. It claimed Moscow was notified in advance about the countermeasures and the steps are “proportionate” and “reversible.”

The most significant decision made by the Biden administration is preventing all Russian inspectors from visiting US territories. However, the inspections were halted due to pandemic restrictions in 2020. 

The State Department maintains that Russian officials chose not to but could have resumed inspections last year. Moscow says it could not send inspectors to the US because of Washington’s sanctions on Russia. 

A second countermeasure involves limiting information sharing with the Kremlin. The fact sheet said, “withholding from Russia notifications required under the treaty, including updates on the status or location of treaty-accountable items such as missiles and launchers.”

The US will additionally withhold data from Russia about future missile tests. “The US will not be providing telemetric information on launches of US ICBMs and SLBMs,” the State Department said. Previously, on March 30, Washington declined to send Moscow a biannual data package. 

While the Biden administration claims to want the Kremlin to return to compliance with the New Start treaty, it continues to make decisions Moscow views as crossing redlines. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said in March that one of the reasons Moscow suspended its participation in the New START treaty was because the US helped Ukraine attack a facility housing Russian nuclear weapons.

In recent weeks, Kiev has launched a series of raids in Russia, including two drone attacks on Moscow. Additionally, Washington has expanded its sanctions regime against Moscow, further preventing communication.