US President Joe Biden said Russian President Vladimir Putin made a “big mistake” in suspending participation in the New START nuclear treaty, his first direct response to the announcement.
(Bloomberg) — US President Joe Biden said Russian President Vladimir Putin made a “big mistake” in suspending participation in the New START nuclear treaty, his first direct response to the announcement.
Biden made the brief remark Wednesday in Warsaw, ahead of a meeting with a group of eastern-flank NATO allies known as the Bucharest Nine.
In response to a shouted question from the press, Biden grinned and said he didn’t have time to discuss his response to Putin’s announcement. “Big mistake,” he added as he walked into the meeting.
Putin said during his state-of-the-nation address on Tuesday that Russia will 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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