Comment by Gen. Evgeny P. Buzhinsky, Chairman of PIR Center Executive Board on the Presidential Address to the Federal Assembly

With regard to arms control and non-proliferation issues, there were two resonant statements in the Address. The first is about the suspension of Russian participation in START. In fact, taking into account the fact that Putin set the condition for the return to the Treaty to take into account the nuclear weapons of France and Great Britain, this means a withdrawal from START. However, I think that the agreed levels will be respected. There is a precedent – the SALT-2 Treaty. The second is Putin’s instruction to the Ministry of Defense and Rosatom to be ready for the resumption of nuclear weapons testing, although with the proviso that we will not be the first, only after the Americans.