“I would like to repeat, they started the war, and we used force in order to stop it,” Putin said, insisting Moscow had tried to settle the conflict in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region, which had been simmering since early 2014, by peaceful means but was eventually forced to take further action. In his wide-ranging and angry speech, Putin also condemned same-sex marriage and cast the government in Kyiv as taking the Ukrainian people “hostage” for failing to address their needs. “That is the difference that Putin was potentially trying to exploit in his speech.” “I think there was an element of this speech that was aimed at the international community because although Europe seems to be very much on the same page with the US in terms of support for Ukraine, beyond Europe … when it comes to the issue of when should the war stop and when should there be negotiations, many believe a ceasefire should come soon, if not now. “But it is interesting that Putin has decided to suspend participation in this treaty, … and I think probably that’s for international consumption at this stage. “NATO allies say that Russia wasn’t really complying with New START anyway,” he said. In 2021, New START was extended for five more years after US President Joe Biden took office.Īl Jazeera’s James Bays, reporting from Brussels, says arms negotiation has been more difficult in recent years due to tensions between Moscow and the West. Together, Russia and the US hold about 90 percent of the world’s nuclear warheads – enough to destroy the planet many times over. Russia has the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons in the world, with close to 6,000 warheads, according to experts. The New START treaty, which was signed in Prague in 2010, caps the number of strategic nuclear warheads Russia and the US may deploy, It also caps the number of deployment of land- and submarine-based missiles and bombers to deliver the warheads. We’ll of course make sure that in any event, we are postured appropriately for the security of our own country and that of our allies.” “We’ll be watching carefully to see what Russia actually does. “The announcement by Russia that it’s suspending participation is deeply unfortunate and irresponsible,” said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Putin said Russia needed to be ready to test nuclear weapons if the United States moves to do so itself.Īlmost immediately, global powers urged Moscow against withdrawing from the treaty. He also said Russia would suspend participation in the New START treaty, the last major pillar of post-Cold War nuclear arms control between Moscow and Washington, which limits their strategic nuclear arsenals. Putin spoke on Tuesday in front of a crowd of 1,400 people in Moscow, addressing members of both houses of parliament, military commanders and soldiers while video screens were also put up in large cities across the country.īesides warning the West of a global confrontation, Putin sought to justify the invasion, saying it had been forced on Russia and he understood the pain of the families of those who had fallen in battle. Russian President Vladimir Putin has made a combative state-of-the-nation speech, blaming the West for the war in Ukraine ahead of the first anniversary of the invasion he ordered.
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