President Joe Biden said Vladimir Putin had made the world less safe by suspending participation in the New START nuclear treaty, but added he does not believe it signals the Russian leader will use nuclear weapons.
(Bloomberg) — President Joe Biden said Vladimir Putin had made the world less safe by suspending participation in the New START nuclear treaty, but added he does not believe it signals the Russian leader will use nuclear weapons.
Putin made a “big mistake,” Biden said while speaking to reporters Wednesday in Warsaw before a meeting with a group of eastern-flank NATO allies known as the Bucharest Nine.
“I don’t read into that that he’s thinking of using nuclear weapons or anything like that,” Biden said in an interview with ABC News released later Wednesday, adding that the Russian president’s decision was nonetheless “not very responsible.”
“We’re less safe when we walk away from arms-control agreements that are very much in both parties’ interests and the world’s interest,” Biden continued. “But I’ve not seen anything where there’s a change in his posture, what they’re doing. The idea that somehow this means they’re thinking of using nuclear weapons — intercontinental ballistic missile — there’s no evidence of that.”
Putin said during his state-of-the-nation address on Tuesday that Russia would suspend its observation of the treaty and won’t allow the US and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to inspect its nuclear facilities.
QuickTake: Why US-Russia ‘New START’ Nuclear Treaty Is in Peril
The treaty seeks to limit the deployment of intercontinental-range nuclear weapons by both Russia and the US by allowing checks of each country’s program.
Biden after taking office in 2021 extended the nuclear treaty by five years to 2026. The State Department accused Russia last month of breaching the terms of the treaty by refusing to allow inspectors.
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