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Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Moscow will suspend the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) on nuclear arms control if the United States does not withdraw from its “hostile stance” towards Russia.

This information was given by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Saturday. The news is from Tas News.

Washington complained earlier this week that Moscow was “running in violation of New Start”. As a countermeasure, they said they would stop updating information on nuclear arms control. This includes information about the missile and its launch site.

Russian Deputy Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in response to such a move by the United States, it is not a matter of surprise to Moscow. Regardless of any countermeasures, Russia’s decision is to suspend New Start.

“No matter what action or counter-action is taken by the United States, our decision to suspend New Start will not waver,” the TASS report said.

The Russian Deputy Minister said, “We will fully return to the functioning of the agreement only when the United States withdraws from its fundamentally hostile position towards Russia.”

The New Start agreement was signed between the US and Russia in 2010. It was signed by the then presidents of the two countries, Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev. The agreement sets a maximum limit on the total number of strategic nuclear weapons that Washington and Moscow can deploy.

Accordingly, both countries can deploy a maximum of 1,550 nuclear weapons. The New Start Agreement came into effect in 2011.

The contract was later extended for another five years in 2021 after Joe Biden became the President of the United States. At the same time, the inspectors of the two countries are given the responsibility to ensure that the terms of the agreement are being followed by both parties.