US takes ‘countermeasures’ against Russia’s violations of nuclear treaty

The Biden administration on Thursday announced it is holding back key information on U.S.-nuclear weapons stockpiles as part of requirements of the New START treaty with Russia in the wake of Moscow violating the agreement.

Russia formally suspended its participation in the treaty in February in opposition to U.S. military and diplomatic support for Ukraine, but the country had been violating the terms of the treaty since November, failing to show up for key meetings and withholding data.

The freeze in communication over the New START treaty dangerously raises the prospect of the world’s two largest nuclear-weapons states approaching a date with no formal arms control agreement. The treaty will expire in 2026 and discussions are needed to develop a follow-on treaty or set of agreements that promote arms control. 

“The United States notified Russia of the countermeasures in advance, and conveyed the United States’ desire and readiness to reverse the countermeasures and fully implement the treaty if Russia returns to compliance,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. 

“The United States remains ready to work constructively with Russia on resuming implementation of the New START Treaty.”

Under the terms of the treaty, U.S. and Russian officials can inspect each country’s nuclear sites on the ground. Those inspections halted during the COVID-19 pandemic and have never resumed. Included in the U.S. countermeasures are the revocation of visas and cancellation of visa applications for Russian treaty inspectors.

The U.S. is also withholding “telemetric information” on launches of intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBMs) and submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) — the treaty arranged for both the U.S. and Russia to annually exchange telemetric information for up to five ICBM and SLBM launches and that includes a variety of technical information related to missile performance and flight tests. 

The third announced countermeasure is that the U.S. is withholding notifications required under the treaty, to include updates and the status of missiles, launchers, among other items. 

In March, The U.S. withheld from Russia detailed data on America’s strategic nuclear forces in response to the February suspension. 

The U.S. will continue to provide Russia with notifications of ICBM and SLBM launches as related to the 1988 Ballistic Missile Launch Notification Agreement and notifications on exercises related to the 1989 Agreement on Reciprocal Notification of Major Strategic Exercises, Blinken said in the statement. 

A senior administration official said that the U.S. is closely watching Russia’s stated commitments to abide by the New START’s central limits on nuclear weapons and other strategic offensive arms and that the U.S. is also committed to adhering to the treaty’s limits, that last until 2026. 

“We’re also open to limits post-2026,” the senior administration official said. “But the post-2026 framework and the types of limits are kind of an open question,” adding that the administration is open to negotiating a new treaty or at least engaging on an informal agreement that allows for arms control until a new treaty can be negotiated. 

“That’s why we feel there’s a need to have a bilateral engagement to have that post-2026 framework.”