Putin suspends nuclear treaty with the U.S. as Biden pledges more American taxpayer aid and weapons to Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin is taking several steps that make nuclear war with the United States far more likely now than at any time since the 1962 Cuban missile crisis.
During an address to the Russian people this week, and in response to the growing diplomatic tensions between Moscow and the West, Putin announced that Moscow would be suspending its participation in the last remaining major nuclear-arms-control treaty between the United States and Russia. Additionally, Putin has stated that Russia will continue its military campaign in Ukraine, further exacerbating the divide between Russia and Western nations,
The Wall Street Journal reported.
Putin's recent comments regarding the New Start arms-control treaty were made as part of a comprehensive address to Russia's federal legislature in Moscow. During the speech, he reiterated his belief that the West has been responsible for provoking what he has called a "special military operation" in Ukraine. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden gave a speech in Poland this week as well, following a recent visit to Kyiv where he reaffirmed the United States' commitment to supporting Ukraine, the WSJ reported.
“They want to deal us a strategic defeat and are meddling with our nuclear facilities. In this context, I have to declare today that Russia is suspending its participation in the Treaty on Strategic Offensive Arms,” the Russian leader told the federal assembly.
The WSJ noted further:
The U.S. State Department in a report sent to Congress last month concluded that Russia had already violated the New Start treaty to cut long-range nuclear arms by refusing to allow on-site inspections and rebuffing Washington’s requests to discuss its compliance concerns. It was the first time the U.S. had accused Russia of violating the treaty, which came into force in 2011, and came amid worsening tensions between Washington and Moscow over the war in Ukraine.
The Biden administration had been eager to preserve the New Start treaty, and had pressed Russia to correct the violations.
Meanwhile, the Russian Federation is calling for an international investigation into the sabotage of the country's Nordstream natural gas pipelines after a lengthy report from an American journalist claimed that the Biden regime was responsible.
The United States has dismissed Russia's accusation of provoking a military conflict in Ukraine as "completely false." The US has accused Russia of attempting to deflect attention from criticism of its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine on February 24th, 2022, and its ongoing attacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure,
the Washington Post reported this week.
These exchanges took place at the United Nations Security Council, which has become the only public forum for direct, and often hostile, communication between the US and Russia. Among the 15-member council, only China expressed complete support for Russia's proposal for a special United Nations inquiry, the Post added.
“A simple statement of utterly false and complete fiction is obviously not enough to answer the many questions and concerns raised around the world,” said China’s U.N. ambassador, Zhang Jun, referring to the U.S. rejection of the Nord Stream sabotage charge. The request for an independent investigation “is entirely legitimate and reasonable,” he added, according to the Post.
Sweden, Denmark, and Germany have been conducting investigations into the damage caused to Nordstream some five months later, the paper noted. According to a letter from those governments to the Security Council on Tuesday, the investigations have revealed that the pipelines suffered extensive damage due to powerful explosions caused by sabotage.
“These investigations have not yet been concluded,” the letter said, according to the Post, and “at this point, it is not possible to say when they will be concluded.” Russian authorities “have been informed regarding the ongoing investigations,” the letter added.
Why our Democratic president wants a nuclear war with Russia is anyone's guess.
Sources include:
WashingtonPost.com
WSJ.com