Putin Says Russia will Halt Participation in New Start Nuclear Arms Treaty
Andrew Roth and Julian Borger | The Guardian
Vladimir Putin has said Russia will halt its participation in New Start, the last major remaining nuclear arms control treaty with the US, in a speech devoted to the one-year anniversary of Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine…Experts said that if Putin now went further and stopped routine reporting and data exchange on nuclear weapon movements and other related developments, it would be a serious blow. “The announcement by Russia that it’s suspending participation in New Start is deeply unfortunate and irresponsible,” the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, told reporters on a visit to Athens. “This is a big deal; suspension of the treaty is not equal to withdrawal but in reality, it could become really close over time,” said Andrey Baklitskiy, a senior researcher in the weapons of mass destruction and other strategic weapons programme at the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research.
Russia's Putin issues new nuclear warnings to West over Ukraine
Guy Faulconbridge | Reuters
President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday delivered a warning to the West over Ukraine by suspending a landmark nuclear arms control treaty, announcing that new strategic systems had been put on combat duty, and threatening to resume nuclear tests. Nearly a year after ordering an invasion that has triggered the biggest confrontation with the West in six decades, Putin said Russia would achieve its aims and accused the West of trying to destroy it."The elites of the West do not hide their purpose. But they also cannot fail to realise that it is impossible to defeat Russia on the battlefield," he told his country's political and military elite…"A week ago, I signed a decree on putting new ground-based strategic systems on combat duty." It was not immediately clear which systems he meant.
IAEA Says it is in Discussions With Iran After Report of Enrichment
Francois Murphy | Reuters
The U.N. nuclear watchdog has found uranium enriched to 84% in Iran - very close to weapons grade - diplomats said on Monday, while the watchdog said that it was in talks with Tehran about recent findings there. Iran has been enriching uranium to up to 60% purity since April 2021. Three months ago, it started enriching to 60% at a second site, Fordow, which is dug into a mountain. Weapons grade is around 90%.Two diplomats told Reuters the International Atomic Energy Agency, which inspects Iran's nuclear facilities, had detected uranium enriched to 84%, confirming an initial report late on Sunday by Bloomberg News. "The issue is whether it was a blip in the reconfigured cascades or deliberate. The agency has asked Iran for an explanation," one of the diplomats told Reuters.
North Korea Fires 2 Missiles in Tests Condemned by Neighbors
HYUNG-JIN KIM and KIM TONG-HYUNG | Associated Press
North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea east of the country Monday in its second test launch in three days, prompting Japan to request an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council. South Korea’s military said it detected two missile launches Monday morning from a town on North Korea’s west coast, which were later confirmed by North Korean official media. Japan said both missiles landed in waters outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone and that no damage to aircraft or vessels in the area was reported, but they flew distances that suggest most of South Korea is in range.
South Korea’s Ruling Party Leader Hints at Need for Nuclear Weapons
Christian Davies | Financial Times
The leader of South Korea’s ruling party has warned that the country may have to “seriously consider” developing its own nuclear weapons as a deterrent to its northern neighbour in the wake of Pyongyang’s latest barrage of missile tests. Chung Jin Suk, a lawmaker and head of the conservative People Power party, told a party meeting on Monday that South Korea needed to reinforce its ability to deter hostilities from Pyongyang, including by strengthening its “kill chain” pre-emptive strike strategy. “We need to seriously consider developing our own nuclear capabilities if such a response is insufficient,” Chung said, according to South Korean state news agency Yonhap.
Groundwater Carries Radiation Risk for North Korean Cities Near Nuke Test Site - Rights Group
Hyonhee Shin | Reuters
Tens of thousands of North Koreans and people in South Korea, Japan and China could be exposed to radioactive materials spread through groundwater from an underground nuclear test site, a Seoul-based human rights group said in a report on Tuesday. North Korea secretly conducted six tests of nuclear weapons at the Punggye-ri site in the mountainous North Hamgyong Province between 2006 and 2017, according to the U.S. and South Korean governments. The study by the Transitional Justice Working Group said radioactive materials could have spread across eight cities and counties near the site, where more than 1 million North Koreans live, and where groundwater is used in everyday lives including drinking.