Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed legislation that suspends the bilateral agreement under which his nation and the United States were each to dispose of 34 metric tons of nuclear weapon-usable plutonium.
Putin early last month signed a decree suspending the Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement (PMDA), citing hostile U.S. behavior and Washington’s failure to fulfill its commitment under the deal. He then submitted legislation to the Russian Federal Assembly on PMDA suspension, which passed both houses of the legislature with overwhelming support over the last two weeks. The government on Monday published the signed bill; even so, Putin’s decree has been in effect since early October.
The legislation outlines conditions for resumption of the deal, including a reduction of U.S. troops in countries that joined NATO after September 2000, the lifting of U.S. sanctions against Russia, and compensation for the economic damage those sanctions inflicted.
Russian officials have specifically taken issue with the U.S. domestic battle over plutonium disposition methods, arguing that the Obama administration’s proposal to cancel the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility, which is under construction in South Carolina to dispose of the U.S. plutonium, is a breach of the agreement. The administration wants to pursue an alternative method of processing plutonium that it says would cost tens of billions of dollars less and cut years off the project completion timeline. It has run into opposition from Congress, particularly the South Carolina delegation.
Russian officials have also noted that Putin can reinstate the agreement, provided that his conditions are met. Commenting on the Russian stance toward the next week’s U.S. presidential election, Putin said during a public event last week that he will be “ready to speak with a new [U.S.] president” to address “difficult questions.”
