Russia may suspend nuclear arms inspections agreed in a treaty with the US in reaction to Western sanctions over Ukraine, Russian news agencies yesterday quoted an unnamed Defence Ministry source as saying.

The pact is the linchpin of the nuclear arms control regime between the former Cold War foes and the main product of the 2010 “reset”, a period of warmer ties that have since chilled.

The source said the ministry was studying the possibility of suspending on-site inspections agreed in the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (Start) between Moscow and Washington.

We are ready to takethis step as a response to the Pentagon's statements

The United States suspended military cooperation such as joint exercises and port visits with Russia on Monday as Washington sought ways to punish Moscow for its intervention in Ukraine.

“The ungrounded threats to Russia from the US and Nato over its Ukrainian policy are regarded by us as an unfriendly gesture and allow us to announce force majeure,” the unnamed source was quoted as saying by the state-owned RIA Novosti news agency.

“We are ready to take this step as a response to the Pentagon’s statements about suspension of engagements between the armies of Russia and the US,” the source added.

“There could be no normal and regular bilateral contacts about adhering to the agreements against the background of ... the US ‘sanctions’,” the source added.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.