Saying relations with the United States have deteriorated in a “radically changed environment,” President Vladimir Putin of Russia withdrew from a landmark nuclear security agreement, in a troubling sign that the countries’ cooperation in a range of nuclear areas could be threatened.
The ended deal required destruction of military stockpiles of plutonium in a step to move away from nuclear doomsday and as an insurance policy against the materials falling into the hands of terrorists or rogue states.
The abrogation by Russia signals that nuclear agreements that accompanied the breakup of the Soviet Union and were to lead the world back from the hair-trigger brink of atomic conflict could be open to revision.
This happens as Russia’s relations with the West sours and tensions rise on a range of disputes today, including Russian Magog aggression on Syria, Ukraine, and the Kremlin’s interference in the domestic politics of Western democracies.