If the United States conducts nuclear tests, then Russia will conduct them, said Russian President Vladimir Putin in a message to the Federal Assembly. According to him, “there should be no illusion that global parity can be destroyed.”
The Ministry of Defense and Rosatom should prepare to conduct nuclear tests if necessary, but Russia will not be the first to conduct them, the president added.
In addition, Putin said that Russia was suspending its participation in the START treaty, stressing that Moscow “is not withdrawing from the treaty, but is suspending [участие]”.
In this regard, he recalled that NATO made a statement in early February demanding that Russia “return to the implementation of strategic arms treaties, with the admission of inspections to our military facilities.” “In the current conditions of today’s confrontation, this sounds like some kind of nonsense,” the president said, adding that “the United States and NATO directly say that their goal is to inflict a strategic defeat in Russia, and then they want to drive around military facilities.”
At the same time, according to him, “NATO actually made an application to become a party to the START treaty.” “Such a formulation of the issue is overdue – NATO includes more than one nuclear power,” the Russian leader emphasized.
Source: Rosbalt
Mario Twitchell is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his insightful and thought-provoking writing on a wide range of topics including general and opinion. He currently works as a writer at 247 news agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
