Along with the diplomatic talk engaged by the US government, Russia has suspended an agreement with the US on the disposal of surplus weapons-grade plutonium. This somehow are the latest sign of worsening bilateral relations between the US and Russia.
In a decree, Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the United States of creating "a threat to strategic stability, as a result of unfriendly actions" towards Russia. Moscow also set pre-conditions for the US for the deal to be resumed and live again.
Under the said year 2000 deal, each side is supposed to get rid of 34 tonnes of plutonium by burning it in reactors.It is part of cuts to nuclear forces. The US state department has already claimed that the combined 68 tonnes of plutonium was "enough material for approximately 17,000 nuclear weapons". With that information, both sides had reconfirmed the deal in 2010.
On another development, the United States said it was a suspending talks with Russia over the crisis in Syria. Washington said Moscow had not lived up to the terms of last month's ceasefire agreement since misunderstanding ignited.
Russia regrets but it is accusing the US of trying to shift the blame on to Russia over the failed deal. It was noted that in April, President Putin said the US was failing to fulfil its obligations to destroy plutonium. Instead, he argued furthered that the US reprocessing method allowed plutonium to be extracted and used again in nuclear weapons; the Russian President furthered said.Before this bumping, bothsides, US and Russia had agreed to build special facilities for disposing of the surplus plutonium.
"We fulfilled our duties, we built that enterprise. But our American partners did not," Russian President Putin said explaining more of the issue.
Contradiction to the latter was the US, which strongly rejected that claim, insisting that its disposal method did not violate the agreement.
Relative thereto, the US - as well as the European Union - imposed a series of sanctions against Russia following the annexation by Moscow of Ukraine's southern Crimea peninsula in 2014, and Russia's support for separatists in eastern Ukraine. Tensions between Washington and Moscow are really rising.
Join the Conversation