RUSSIA + UKRAINE

Putin ups tensions over Ukraine, suspending START nuke pact

Feb 21, 2023, 7:45 AM | Updated: 7:46 am

Russian President Vladimir Putin suspended Moscow's participation in the last remaining nuclear arm...

Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures as he gives his annual state of the nation address in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023. Putin has suspended the Nuclear Arms Treaty with the United State after Presiden Biden made a trip to Ukraine. A Utah State University professor joined KSL at Night to make sense of it all. (Dmitry Astakhov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

(Dmitry Astakhov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin suspended Moscow’s participation in the last remaining nuclear arms control pact with the U.S., announcing the move Tuesday in a bitter speech where he made clear he would not change his strategy in the war in Ukraine.

In his long-delayed state-of-the-nation address, Putin cast his country — and Ukraine — as victims of Western double-dealing and said it was Russia, not Ukraine, fighting for its very existence.

“We aren’t fighting the Ukrainian people,” Putin said in a speech days before the war’s first anniversary on Friday. “The Ukrainian people have become hostages of the Kyiv regime and its Western masters, which have effectively occupied the country.”

The speech reiterated a litany of grievances that the Russian leader has frequently offered as justification for the widely condemned military campaign while vowing no military let-up in a conflict that has reawakened fears of a new Cold War.

On top of that, Putin sharply upped the ante by declaring that Moscow would suspend its participation in the so-called New START Treaty. The pact, signed in 2010 by the U.S. and Russia, caps the number of long-range nuclear warheads the two sides can deploy and limits the use of missiles that can carry atomic weapons.

Putin also said that Russia should stand ready to resume nuclear weapons tests if the U.S. does so, a move that would end a global ban on such tests in place since the Cold War era.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken described Moscow’s decision as “really unfortunate and very irresponsible.”

“We’ll be watching carefully to see what Russia actually does,” he said during a visit to Greece.

Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, and made a dash toward Kyiv, apparently expecting to quickly overrun the capital. But stiff resistance from Ukrainian forces — backed by Western weapons — turned back Moscow’s troops. While Ukraine has reclaimed many areas initially seized by Russia, the two sides have become bogged down in tit-for-tat battles in others.

The war has revived the old Russia-West divide, reinvigorated the NATO alliance, and created the biggest threat to Putin’s more than two-decade rule. U.S. President Joe Biden, fresh off a surprise visit to Kyiv, was in Poland on Tuesday on a mission to solidify that Western unity — and planned his own speech.

Observers were expected to scour Putin’s address for any signs of how the Russian leader sees the conflict, where he might take it and how it might end. While the Constitution mandates that the president deliver the speech annually, Putin never gave one in 2022, as his troops rolled into Ukraine and suffered repeated setbacks.

Much of the speech covered old ground, as Putin offered his own version of recent history, discounting arguments by the Ukrainian government that it needed Western help to thwart a Russian military takeover.

“Western elites aren’t trying to conceal their goals, to inflict a ‘strategic defeat’ to Russia,” Putin said in the speech broadcast by all state TV channels. “They intend to transform the local conflict into a global confrontation.”

He added that Russia was prepared to respond since “it will be a matter of our country’s existence.” He has repeatedly depicted NATO’s expansion to include countries close to Russia as an existential threat to his country.
Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, who was in Ukraine on Tuesday, said she had hoped that Putin might have taken a different approach.

“What we heard this morning was propaganda that we already know,” Meloni said in English. “He says (Russia) worked on diplomacy to avoid the conflict, but the truth is that there is somebody who is the invader and somebody who is defending itself.”

Putin denied any wrongdoing, even as the Kremlin’s forces in Ukraine strike civilian targets, including hospitals, and are widely accused of war crimes. On the ground Tuesday, the Ukrainian military reported that Russian forces shelled southern cities of Kherson and Ochakiv while Putin spoke, killing six people.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy lamented that Russian forces were “again mercilessly killing the civilian population.”

Many observers predicted Putin’s speech would address Moscow’s fallout with the West — and Putin began with strong words for those countries that have provided Kyiv with crucial military support and warned them against supplying any longer-range weapons.

“It’s they who have started the war. And we are using force to end it,” Putin said before an audience of lawmakers, state officials and soldiers who have fought in Ukraine.

Putin also accused the West of taking aim at Russian culture, religion and values because it is aware that “it is impossible to defeat Russia on the battlefield.”

Likewise, he said Western sanctions would have no effect, saying they hadn’t “achieved anything and will not achieve anything.”

Underscoring the anticipation ahead of the speech, some state TV channels put out a countdown for the event starting on Monday.

Reflecting the Kremlin’s clampdown on free speech and press, this year it barred media from “unfriendly” countries, the list of which includes the U.S., the U.K. and those in the EU. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said journalists from those nations will be able to cover the speech by watching the broadcast.

He previously told reporters that the speech’s delay had to do with Putin’s “work schedule,” but Russian media reports linked it to the setbacks of Russian forces. The Russian president postponed the state-of-the-nation address before, in 2017.

Last year, the Kremlin also canceled two other big annual events — Putin’s press conference and a highly scripted phone-in marathon where people ask the president questions.

Analysts expected Putin’s speech would be tough in the wake of Biden’s visit to Kyiv on Monday. In his his own speech later Tuesday, Biden is expected to highlight the commitment of the central European country and other allies to Ukraine over the past year.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said that Biden’s address would not be “some kind of head to head” with Putin’s.

“This is not a rhetorical contest with anyone else,” said.
___
Follow the AP’s coverage of Russia’s war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

We want to hear from you.

Have a story idea or tip? Send it to the KSL NewsRadio team here.

Today’s Top Stories

Russia + Ukraine

FILE - Patriot missile launchers acquired from the U.S. last year are seen deployed in Warsaw, Pola...

CNN

Russia tried to destroy US-made Patriot system in Ukraine, officials say

Russia tried to destroy a US-made Patriot air defense system in Ukraine last week with a hypersonic missile, two US officials told CNN.

11 months ago

Ukrainian servicemen ride towards frontline positions near Vuhledar, Donetsk region, Ukraine, on Ma...

Oren Liebermann

US set to announce $1.2 billion aid package to Ukraine with counteroffensive looming

(CNN) — The US is set to announce a $1.2 billion aid package to Ukraine as early as Tuesday, according to a US official familiar with the package, with Ukraine’s counteroffensive against Russian forces looming. The package will include drones, artillery ammunition and air defense missiles, the official said, as well as other capabilities. The package, first […]

11 months ago

A former US Marine was killed on the outskirts of Bakhmut late last week. This image shows fighting...

Natalie Gallón, Nick Paton Walsh, Jennifer Hansler and Teele Rebane

Former US Marine killed in Ukraine

 (CNN) — A former US Marine, Cooper “Harris” Andrews, 26, was killed on the outskirts of Bakhmut late last week, according to his mother and colleagues in Ukraine. Andrews, from Cleveland, Ohio, was hit by a mortar, his mother, Willow Andrews said, likely on April 19 on the so-called “Road of Life” — a rare access road into […]

11 months ago

Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko speaks to a group gathered at the World Trade Center U...

Mark Jones

What the former president of Ukraine had to say in his trip to Utah

Viktor Yushchenko, the former president of Ukraine, was in Utah this week. He met with the Deseret News editorial board. Jay Evensen of the Deseret News shared insight into that meeting with Inside Sources.

11 months ago

Olesya Krivtsova thinks it's because she was neither the first, nor the last, to criticize the war ...

Saskya Vandoorne and Melissa Bell, CNN

This Russian student fled to Europe to regain her freedom of speech

Olesya Krivtsova thinks it's because she was neither the first, nor the last, to criticize the war in Ukraine that she scared Russian authorities as much as she did.

1 year ago

A Patriot missile mobile launcher is displayed outside the Fort Sill Army Post near Lawton, Oklahom...

Natasha Bertrand and Aileen Graef, CNN

Ukrainian soldiers impress US trainers as they rapidly get up to speed on Patriot missile system

  (CNN) — The Ukrainian soldiers waved and honked their horns as they drove along a dirt road at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, moving their vehicles into position to defend against a hypothetical Russian missile barrage. These were not ordinary trucks, however. The Ukrainians were manning a US Patriot air defense system, which 65 Ukrainian soldiers have been training on […]

1 year ago

Sponsored Articles

close up of rose marvel saliva blooms in purple...

Shannon Cavalero

Drought Tolerant Perennials for Utah

The best drought tolerant plants for Utah can handle high elevations, alkaline soils, excessive exposure to wind, and use of secondary water.

Group of cheerful team members high fiving each other...

Visit Bear Lake

How To Plan a Business Retreat in Bear Lake This Spring

Are you wondering how to plan a business retreat this spring? Read our sample itinerary to plan a team getaway to Bear Lake.

Cheerful young woman writing an assignment while sitting at desk between two classmates during clas...

BYU EMBA at the Marriott School of Business

Hear it Firsthand: 6 Students Share Their Executive MBA Experience at BYU’s Marriott School of Business

The Executive MBA program at BYU offers great opportunities. Hear experiences straight from students enrolled in the program.

Skier being towed by a rider on a horse. Skijoring....

Bear Lake Convention and Visitors Bureau

Looking for a New Winter Activity? Try Skijoring in Bear Lake

Skijoring is when someone on skis is pulled by a horse, dog, animal, or motor vehicle. The driver leads the skiers through an obstacle course over jumps, hoops, and gates.

Banner with Cervical Cancer Awareness Realistic Ribbon...

Intermountain Health

Five Common Causes of Cervical Cancer – and What You Can Do to Lower Your Risk

January is National Cervical Cancer Awareness month and cancer experts at Intermountain Health are working to educate women about cervical cancer.

Kid holding a cisco fish at winterfest...

Bear Lake Convention and Visitors Bureau

Get Ready for Fun at the 2023 Bear Lake Monster Winterfest

The Bear Lake Monster Winterfest is an annual weekend event jam-packed full of fun activities the whole family can enjoy.

Putin ups tensions over Ukraine, suspending START nuke pact