There is growing concern that Russia is violating a key arms control treaty.
U.S. Representative Mike Rogers (R-AL), Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH), Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, have written to Antony Blinken, Secretary of State, Lloyd Austin, Secretary of Defense, and Avril Haines, Director of National Intelligence, to express their concerns that Russia has failed to uphold key tenets of New START.
The letter warns that “Russia’s unilateral cancellation of the New START Bilateral Consultative Commission (BCC) and refusal to restart New START inspections, another key tenet of the treaty, coupled with other statements by its government officials, at a minimum, raise serious compliance concerns regarding the Federation’s adherence to the New START Treaty. This would occur during a uniquely dangerous time when both Russia and China are expanding and modernizing their arsenals, Iran, a state sponsor of terror, continues to expand its nuclear program, and North Korea rattles its nuclear saber.”
In May, according to RealClearDefense Russia engaged in the most serious violation of the New Start Treaty. Yuri Borisov, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister in charge of defense procurement inadvertently described two serious Russian violations of the New START Treaty. He mentioned that Kaliber cruise missiles were widely deployed on Russian naval vessels, and KH-101 missiles were on Russian military aircraft.
RealClearDefense explains that “With the revelation by Mr. Borisov that the Kh-101 long-range nuclear-capable cruise missiles are carried by Su-30 and Su-34 fighters, every element necessary to establish a serious violation of the New START Treaty is now documented by on the record statements made by the President of Russia and the Russian general who is the spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry in formal press briefings.”
In 2016, Russian violations of the treaty were discovered during an on-site inspection carried out in Russia . American inspectors discovered critical components of SS-25 intercontinental ballistic missiles had not been properly disabled in compliance with treaty obligations. Further, U.S. personnel couldn’t verify whether missiles that were supposed to be destroyed had actually been eliminated
Inexplicably, despite that and other incidents, the Representatives note, President Biden gifted Vladimir Putin a clean, five-year extension to New START at the beginning of his administration despite concerns about the treaty, including the weakness of its verification regime and its failure to address Moscow’s history of violative behavior.
In 2022, to uphold a part of the treaty regarding mutual consultations, a U.S. delegation arrived in Cairo, Egypt, but the delegation from the Russian Federation canceled the meeting, stating it would no longer participate in the required meetings. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov said “There’s no reason now to talk about any new dates. I don’t think any proposals will be made over the next few weeks, in the short term…It’s just been canceled, and we won’t propose any new dates.” Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov directed blame at the U.S. and its support for Ukraine in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion as the reason for canceling the talks.
The Kremlin’s violations shouldn’t be a surprise. The use of both strategic and “battlefield” nuclear weapons has become a major part of its military strategy.
Russia has an overwhelming advantage in nonstrategic nuclear weapons, of the sort that Putin has repeatedly threatened to employ in his Ukraine invasion. Part of Putin’s move to reassert his nation as an influential power is the use of nuclear armaments to replace conventional forces, including so-called “battlefield” nukes.
According to a U.S. government report issued several years ago, the Russian Federation has adopted a policy to use nuclear weapons not just in in response to the use of nuclear or other weapons of mass destruction against it or its allies, but also in response to whatever it perceives to be a significant threat.
The report notes that Russian has developed “precision low-yield” nuclear weapons for strikes “anywhere in the world.” By the cvlose of the 20th Century, Moscow developed atomic weapons with reported yields “from several tens of tons to 100 tons of TNT equivalent.” Russia is also developing “superlow-yield weapons” and “penetrators, ” along with “‘clean’ nuclear weapons.
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