MOSCOW. Feb 21 (Interfax) - The suspension of Russia's participation in the Treaty with the United States on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (New START), means that it stops interacting with the U.S. within the framework of this document, Federation Council Deputy Speaker Konstantin Kosachyov said, adding that Russia would stay committed to the treaty's caps.
"The suspension means that the treaty retains its legal force. Hopefully, we will still be able to comply with our obligations on the treaty's limitations unless the circumstances change drastically. This is directly linked to the tasks of the provision of our national security," Kosachyov told reporters in response to Interfax's question after Russian President Vladimir Putin made an address to the Federal Assembly.
"If the treaty retains its legal force, then perhaps, in my opinion, the cap obligations imposed by this treaty also remain in place, while interaction with the other side stops," Kosachyov said.
He said he "is hoping that the interests of ensuring Russia's national security will let us stay within the treaty's limits."
"I hope so. However, the decision should be made by our military. I still think that a direct consequence of the president's suspension decision implies that we stop any interaction with the United States under this treaty for now," Kosachyov said.
This means that Russia will stop reacting to U.S. inspection requests and taking part in joint controlling mechanisms, he said.
"Considering that the United States has organized the situation in such a way that it is unilaterally inspecting Russia, while not allowing inspections of the United States, the Americans will fully, 100% lose the opportunity to use the treaty to its unilateral benefit," Kosachyov said.