Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday ordered a halt to an agreement with the United States on plutonium disposal, citing Washington’s “unfriendly actions”.
The deal, signed in 2000, was meant to allow both nuclear powers to dispose of weapons-grade plutonium from their defence programmes, a move seen as a key step in the disarmament process. The two countries recommitted to the deal in 2010. Mr. Putin charged earlier this year that the United States was not honouring the agreement by disposing of plutonium in a way that allowed it to retain its defence capabilities.
The suspension is symbolic of the breakdown in nuclear nonproliferation cooperation, an expert said.
The decree published on Monday states that Russia is pulling out of the agreement “due to a drastic change in circumstances, the appearance of a threat to strategic stability due to unfriendly actions of the United States toward Russia”. It claimed that Washington was “unable” to carry out the terms of the agreement and that Moscow “must take urgent measures to defend Russian security”.