Russia halts US inspections of nuclear arsenal under New START treaty

BBC News:

Russia has told the US it has “temporarily” suspended on-site inspections of its strategic nuclear weapons, under an arms control treaty known as New START.

The Russian foreign ministry said the US was seeking advantages and had deprived Russia of the right to carry out inspections on US territory.

It said US sanctions imposed on Russia over Ukraine had changed conditions between the countries.

The treaty came into force in 2011.

It is the last remaining arms reduction agreement between the former Cold War rivals. It caps at 1,550 the number of long-range nuclear warheads that each country can deploy.

The ministry said the suspension was allowed under the treaty terms “in exceptional circumstances”.