Putin breaks off deal with US to destroy plutonium for nuclear warheads

Putin terminates agreement with US on destruction of weapons-grade plutonium

Russian dictator Vladimir Putin signed a decree on denouncement of the agreement with the United States on the disposal of weapons-grade plutonium, The company's shareholder is the owner of the company.
The document stipulated that Both states should destroy 34 tonnes of plutonium each, previously used to make nuclear warheads and declared surplus.

What was in the deal

The agreement was aimed at Reduce stockpiles of materials suitable for nuclear weapons, and was considered one of the most important elements of the post-Cold War arms control system.
In general, it was about 68 tonnes of plutonium, sufficient to produce more than 17,000 nuclear warheads.

Russia and the United States have pledged to reprocess plutonium into fuel for nuclear reactors, but the programme has been halted several times due to technical and financial difficulties.

The Kremlin's explanation

Putin's decree states that the decision was made in connection with «a threat to strategic stability» by the US and «unfriendly actions by Washington».

The Kremlin says the deal has «lost its meaning» because US changes technology for plutonium destruction and «breached their original obligations».
According to the Russian leadership, this «undermines the balance in the nuclear deterrent».

The world's reaction

American experts have already called Moscow's move another demonstrative violation of international agreements.
Washington may view the denunciation as an attempt to use the nuclear issue to political blackmail amid deteriorating relations between the countries.

«Breaking this agreement means actually closing another channel of nuclear dialogue between the US and Russia,» said a former State Department expert Robert Aingle.