Russia Did The Right Thing At The Right Time By Suspending Participation In The New START

Moscow exercised an almost saintly degree of patience in remaining committed to the New START up until this point despite Washington and its vassals’ innumerable provocations against it since the special operation began a year ago. Quite clearly, the US-led West’s Golden Billion de facto abandoned its obligations and in hindsight only intended over the last twelve months to exploit that pact in order to take advantage of Russia, which is unacceptable.

President Putin announced during Tuesday’s annual address to the nation that Russia is suspending its participation in the New START, which was the last remaining strategic arms control treaty between his country and the US. He explained that NATO equipped and modernized those Ukrainian drones that attacked its strategic aviation bases last year, adding also that it doesn’t make sense to allow the US to inspect such facilities per the treaty’s terms when it’s openly working for Russia’s strategic defeat.

This was the right move at the right time. Moscow exercised an almost saintly degree of patience in remaining committed to the New START up until this point despite Washington and its vassals’ innumerable provocations against it since the special operation began a year ago. Quite clearly, the US-led West’s Golden Billion de facto abandoned its obligations and in hindsight only intended over the last twelve months to exploit that pact in order to take advantage of Russia, which is unacceptable.

Two other points of pertinence that President Putin mentioned during his address were that NATO’s collective statement condemning Russia implied the bloc’s desire to join the New START and that his intelligence agencies informed him that the US might soon test new nuclear weapons. As for the first, he said that he’d support NATO becoming party to this pact due to France and the UK being nuclear states, while he warned regarding the second point that Russia would conduct its own tests in response.

The Golden Billion’s so-called “rules-based order” has always only been about the arbitrary implementation of double standards intended to advance the US’ hegemonic interests at all others’ expense, with its approach towards the New START being the latest case in point. Russia can’t realistically be expected to abide by its terms and let the US inspect its strategic facilities when the US won’t let Russia inspect its own, is working for Russia’s strategic defeat, and planning new nuclear tests.

The post-World War II order was predicated on the principle of parity in International Relations, particularly being the superpowers and later the Great Powers that began to rise after the end of the Old Cold War. Unilaterally eroding that principle like the US is actively seeking to do therefore unprecedentedly destabilizes the world and recklessly runs the risk of a larger war breaking out. By suspending its participation in the New START, Russia is thus seeking to restore a degree of parity.

Continuing to be the only one of those two parties that remained committed to its terms would have given the US a decisive strategic edge over Russia with time, which in turn would have more greatly destabilized International Relations to the point of spiking the risk of a larger war with time. Observers should therefore applaud President Putin for this brave step in the direction of averting that scenario, which helps preserve a semblance of strategic stability and thus offset World War III.