Russia suspends US inspections of its nuclear arsenal. As stated on Monday, August 8, at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Russia “temporarily withdraws its facilities subject to inspections under this Treaty from inspection activities under the START Treaty”.

The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained its decision by the sanctions imposed on Russia and the coronavirus pandemic. Thus, the ministry referred to the fact that the airspace of many countries “is closed to Russian aircraft delivering Russian inspection teams”. This, according to the Russian side, “creates unilateral advantages for the United States and deprives the Russian Federation of the right to carry out inspections on American soil.”

In addition, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs referred to the “difficult epidemiological situation” due to the coronavirus pandemic, saying that parties in these circumstances should abandon attempts to resume inspection activities under the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. (START).

New START and nuclear weapons inspections in Russia and the United States

The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty is the only remaining element of the once comprehensive arms control treaty system between the United States and Russia. This agreement, in particular, limits the number of strategic nuclear weapons such as long-range missiles. Under START, each country can have no more than 800 nuclear weapon carriers and no more than 1,550 warheads. In February 2021, US President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin extended the agreement (START-3) until 2026.

The treaty provides for mutual inspections of nuclear weapons by Washington and Moscow. However, due to the coronavirus pandemic, inspections have been suspended since March 2020.