MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday ordered a halt to an agreement with the United States on weapons-grade plutonium disposal in retaliation for Washington’s “unfriendly actions” amid a wider standoff with the West.
The deal, signed in 2000, was meant to allow both nuclear powers to dispose of plutonium from their defence programmes, a move seen as a key step in the disarmament process.
The two countries recommitted to the agreement in 2010.
Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said the move was a “necessary” response to hostile steps from the US, including sanctions over the Ukraine crisis and the bolstering of NATO’s forces …read more
Source: Free Malaysia Today
