In a speech in which he assured citizens that Russia will win the war in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Russia would suspend its participation in the New START treaty, the last remaining nuclear agreement between the US and Russia, the Washington Post reports.
Putin claimed that he was not canceling the treaty; he was suspending the parts of it that allow the United States to inspect nuclear facilities and require the two sides to meet periodically. The treaty is in effect until February 2026 and limits the number and types of intercontinental ballistic missiles and launchers each side can operate.
In Russia’s version of the State of the Union address, Putin droned on for two hours, telling the audience that Russia will prevail in Ukraine but not mentioning a timeframe or the battlefield losses the nation has incurred, in terms of both blood and treasure. This is also not the first arms treaty one of the sides has voided: the Trump Administration unilaterally withdrew from the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty with Russia in 2019.