Russia stops warning US about its nuclear missile tests

Russia will halt its notifications of its nuclear missile tests to the US (Picture: Getty Images)

Russia will no longer notify the US about its missile tests and other nuclear activity.

The move comes a month after Russian President Vladimir Putin officially suspended the last remaining nuclear arms deal with the US.

Russian’s foreign ministry had said that Moscow would continue to inform the US about its planned ballistic missile tests. But on Wednesday, Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov indicated that they were going in a different direction.

Asked if Moscow would halt missile test notices, Ryabkov said: ‘There will be no notifications at all.’

The US and Russia have stopped sharing biannual nuclear weapons data under the faltering New START arms control treaty (Picture: AP)

‘All notifications, all kinds of notifications, all activities under the treaty will be suspended and will not be conducted regardless of what position the US may take,’ said Ryabkov according to local news agencies.

His remarks came as Russia began drills on Wednesday. They involve Yars mobile missile launchers traversing three regions of Siberia and maneuvers to conceal the activity from foreign intelligence assets, according to the Russian defence ministry.

The Yars is an intercontinental ballistic missile with a nuclear tip that is the backbone of Moscow’s strategic forces.

Notifications had allowed Russia and the US to interpret each other’s nuclear moves for decades and differentiate test launches from missile attacks. Russia halting its notifications could be its latest effort to push back against the US and its western allies’ support for Ukraine in the ongoing war.

Russia began another round of missile drills on Wednesday (Picture: AP)

The 2010 New START treaty, signed by former presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev, limited the nations to up to 1,500 deployed nuclear warheads and 700 deployed missiles and bombers. It also called for inspections to ensure the countries were in compliance.

When Putin suspended the treaty late last month, he said Moscow would no longer allow US inspections of its nuclear sites.

Russia has reiterated that it is not completely withdrawing from the treaty, and will keep staying within the nuclear arms cap figures.

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