Amid its decision to cease membership in the deal, Russia announced on Tuesday that it will continue to adhere to the New START treaty's restrictions on the number of nuclear warheads it might deploy (Feb 21).

In an address to both chambers of the Russian parliament, President Vladimir Putin made the announcement of the freeze and repeated claims that the West wanted to destroy Russia. Putin gave the Duma, the lower house of parliament, a draft law on the suspension later in the day. The Duma will study the text on Wednesday and make a decision right away, according to a statement from Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin.

Moscow and Washington agreed to deploy a maximum of 700 long-range missiles and bombers and 1,550 strategic nuclear warheads under the terms of the treaty, which was signed in 2010 and extended through 2026. The Federation Council's upper house will then get the draft, he explained. The Council's foreign committee chairman, Grigory Karasin, told the RIA news agency that the group might also take up the measure on Wednesday.

"In order to maintain a sufficient degree of predictability and stability in the sphere of nuclear missiles, Russia intends to adhere to a responsible approach and will continue to strictly observe the quantitative restrictions provided for by the New START treaty within the life cycle of the treaty," the ministry said.

The ministry added that it would keep the United States informed of any scheduled intercontinental ballistic missile test launches (ICBMs). Putin's decision, which he announced nearly a year after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, was criticized by the United States, NATO, as well as fellow nuclear powers Britain and France.

The ministry accused Washington of violating the treaty's terms and of attempting to compromise Russia's national security in its statement, which it blamed for Russia's decision to suspend the agreement. Moscow said that the basic geopolitical circumstances supporting the treaty's signature had altered.

The United States had devised ways to circumvent its fundamental restrictions on the number of nuclear warheads that could be deployed, according to the report, and the regulations had become biased in favor of Washington.

The coronavirus epidemic caused the New START-permitted inspections of nuclear arsenals to be suspended in March 2020. In November of last year, Russia called off negotiations to resume reciprocal inspections. Moscow stated that should American policy toward Russia change, it would not be opposed to resuming participation.

In his statement on Tuesday, Putin made sure to emphasize that Russia was simply suspending its adherence to the pact, not abandoning it altogether.