Policy Analyst Monica Montgomery spoke with The Hill about Russia’s announcement that it is suspending New START implementation.
Monica Montgomery, a policy analyst with the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, said she viewed Putin’s announcement as a formalization of recent developments to halt the nuclear pact.
Amid numerous setbacks in the war in Ukraine, Putin is using the fear of nuclear warfare in a bid to get the U.S. and NATO to back down from continued support, Montgomery assessed.
“It’s all about Putin trying to save face … and find a way to continue to advance in Ukraine,” Montgomery said. “Putin is taking one of the last things that is still out there that is in the mutual interest of both countries.”
…
Montgomery, from the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, said the suspension also raises the risk of nuclear weapons being used for political and military ploys across the world, particularly from ascending nuclear powers like North Korea and Iran.
“Russia as a nuclear power and a member of the Non-Proliferation treaty is showing other countries that nuclear weapons can be used as a tool to carry out reckless military and political aims,” Montgomery said.
“Russia right now is setting an example that nuclear arms control is not a priority,” she continued, and “they would risk tearing down one of the last remaining pillars of the arms control [treaty] at the expense of carrying out the war of aggression in Ukraine.” Read more
