Russia Leaves Nuclear Treaty as Global Fears Heighten

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed an order Thursday eliminating his country's agreement with Japan that aimed to reduce and contain nuclear stockpiles.

The agreement, which was signed October 13, 1993, was entered between Moscow and Tokyo a day after North Korea stated that it would no longer negotiate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). According to a report from United Press International, the agreement stated that "the nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems is an urgent task in securing the peace and security of the international community."

Russian state-owned media outlet TASS reported Thursday that the Russian Foreign Ministry has been instructed to notify its Japanese counterparts of the Kremlin's decision to end the agreement. A copy of the order signed by Mishustin was also published online.

The order states that it is "To terminate the agreement between the government of the Russian Federation and the government of Japan on cooperation to assist in the elimination of nuclear weapons subject to reduction in the Russian Federation and the creation of a Cooperation Committee for these purposes, signed in Tokyo on October 13, 1993," according to the TASS report.

Newsweek reached out to the foreign ministries of Russia and Japan via email for comment Thursday.

The announcement arrived as fear across the globe heightens over the threat of Russia relying on nuclear weapons in its war against Ukraine. Members of Russia's lower house of parliament unanimously voted in October to revoke Moscow's ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), which prohibits "any nuclear weapon test explosion or any other nuclear explosion" anywhere in the world. The United States signed the CTBT in 1996 but has yet to ratify it.

Russian President Vladimir Putin also announced in February that his country was going to stop observing the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), which effectively blocks the U.S. and other NATO countries from being able to observe Russia's nuclear facilities. Washington has promised that it will adhere to the treaty, which established a limit on the strategic nuclear warheads either country can deploy, until it is set to expire in February 2026—if Moscow holds up its end of the deal.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said in June that his country would look into reentering the new START deal "only if the U.S. demonstrates a willingness to abandon its fundamentally hostile policy toward the Russian Federation."

U.S. President Joe Biden warned this past summer that the chance of Putin relying on tactical nuclear weapons was a "real" possibility after Moscow deployed nuclear warheads to Belarus.

"When I was out here about two years ago saying I worried about the Colorado River drying up, everybody looked at me like I was crazy," Biden told a group of donors in California in June, according to a report from Reuters.

"They looked at me like when I said I worry about Putin using tactical nuclear weapons," the president added. "It's real."