Russia Says It Will Keep Notifying US of Missile Tests

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said Thursday that Russia will continue notifying the US of its missile tests despite its suspension of New START, the last nuclear arms control treaty remaining between Washington and Moscow.

Earlier this week, the US said it would stop sharing New START data with Russia since Moscow suspended its participation in the treaty. Ryabkov said Wednesday that Russia suspended information sharing under New START as well but clarified on Thursday that it will still notify the US of missile tests and adhere to the caps on nuclear weapon deployments set by the treaty.

“On a voluntary basis, the Russian Federation will adhere to the central quantitative limits on strategic nuclear weapons set by the treaty and will also continue to abide by the 1988 agreement on mutual notifications on missile launches,” Ryabkov said, according to the Russian news agency TASS.

New START limits the number of nuclear warheads each side can have deployed at 1,550 and also puts caps on the deployment of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), and heavy bombers equipped for nuclear armaments.

For now, both the US and Russia have said they intend to continue following the limitations on their nuclear deployments. Ryabkov and other Russian officials have previously said that the New START could be salvaged if the US takes steps to de-escalate tensions over Ukraine. But the Biden administration has shown no interest in doing so, and continues to ramp up support for Kyiv.