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14 NEWS maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 15 FEBRUARY 2023 NICOLE MEILAK RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin said he is suspending his country's participation in the New START nuclear arms re- duction treaty with the United States of America. Putin made the declaration in his much-delayed annual state of the nation address to Russia's National Assembly on Tuesday. The treaty puts limits on the number of deployed intercon- tinental-range nuclear weapons that both the US and Russia can have. It was last extended in ear- ly 2021 for five years, meaning the two sides would soon need to begin negotiating on another arms control agreement. Under the key nuclear arms control treaty, both the United States and Russia are permitted to conduct inspections of each other's weapons sites, though inspections had been halted since 2020 due to the COV- ID-19 pandemic. While Russia is not withdraw- ing from the pact completely, it appears to be formalizing its current position. For months, US officials have been frustrat- ed over Russia's lack of co-oper- ation with the agreement. Russia did everything to re- solve Donbas problem peace- fully Speaking on Ukraine, Putin said Russia did everything to resolve the Donbas problem peacefully. He insisted that Russia tried to settle the conflict in the Donbas region through peaceful means and that the West was to blame for the war in Ukraine. "We were doing everything possible to solve this problem peacefully, negotiating a peace- ful way out of this difficult con- flict, but behind our backs a very different scenario was be- ing prepared," he said. The Russian president spoke at length about the West's in- volvement in the Ukraine war. Putin accused the West of withdrawing from fundamen- tal agreements while expand- ing NATO. "It is them who are culpable for the war, and we are using force to stop it." He also said that it was the West that opened the door for Nazi take-over in the 1930s and has been trying to tear away Russia's "historical lands". He also accused the West of funding the 2014 revolution in Ukraine to overthrow the pro-Russian government. Putin pulls out of nuclear arms control pact with the US Vladimir Putin NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg echoed US concerns on Tuesday that China could supply Russia with weapons to help it pursue its war against Ukraine. "It is President (Vladimir) Putin who started this imperial war of conquest. It is Putin who keeps escalating the war," Stoltenberg said. "We are also increasingly con- cerned that China may be plan- ning to provide lethal support for Russia's war." Stoltenberg was speaking af- ter a meeting with EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on plans to step up Western ammunition sup- plies to Ukraine. The Western allies worry they are falling behind in supplying enough shells for Kyiv's artillery to fend off a renewed Russian of- fensive. But if the fears – first raised by Washington – that China is preparing to deliver weapons to Russia are realised, they could fall even further behind in what would be a growing arms supply race. Borrell said he had raised the is- sue with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi and received assuranc- es that China would not supply weapons to any country at war. "We have to remain vigilant, but as far as I know, there is no evidence that China has been doing what they claim not to be doing," Borrell said. Stoltenberg also warned that Russia's suspension of a nuclear treaty with the US marked the end of Europe's post-Cold War arms control architecture. "I regret today's decision by Russia to suspend its participa- tion in the New START treaty," he said. "Over the last years Russia has violated and walked away from key arms control agreements. With today's decision on New START the whole arms control architecture has been disman- tled," Stoltenberg said. Borrell said their meeting in Brussels was a historic symbol of the West's unity and determina- tion to protect Kyiv from Russia's aggression. He agreed on the threat posed by President Vladimir Putin's an- nouncement suspending Russia's participation in the New START treaty. "Russia's announcement of sus- pending the New START treaty is another proof that what Rus- sia is doing is just demolishing the security system that was built after the end of the Cold War," Borrell said. Stoltenberg's warning was stark: "More nuclear weapons and less arms control makes the world more dangerous. "I'm calling on Russia today to reconsider its decision to sus- pend its participation in the New START agreement. We have to remember that this is one of the last major arms control agree- ments we have," he said. Nato chief concerned China will arm Russia in Ukraine, urges Moscow to 'reconsider' suspending New START treaty Stoltenberg warned that Russia's suspension of a nuclear treaty with the US marked the end of Europe's post-Cold War arms control architecture