**Putin Says Russia Will Suspend Participation in Nuclear Arms Treaty**
MOSCOW, Feb 21 (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Russia would suspend its participation in the New START nuclear arms treaty with the United States, a move that is likely to further increase tensions between the two countries already at their lowest in decades.
The New START treaty, signed in 2010, limits the number of deployed strategic nuclear warheads that the United States and Russia can have, as well as the number of deployed and non-deployed launchers of strategic nuclear weapons.
In a speech to Russia’s Federal Assembly, Putin said that Russia would not withdraw from the treaty, but would suspend its participation. He accused the United States and its NATO allies of not fulfilling their obligations under the treaty, and said that Russia needed to be ready to conduct nuclear weapons tests if the United States did so.
The United States has denied violating the treaty, and has called on Russia to comply with its obligations. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said that Russia’s suspension of its participation in the treaty is a .
