Russia’s Federal Assembly this week completed its approval of legislation suspending the bilateral agreement with the United States under which each country had committed to disposing of 34 metric tons of nuclear weapon-usable plutonium.
The upper house of the country’s legislature, the Council of the Federation, signed off on the bill Wednesday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Oct. 3 that suspended the Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement (PMDA), citing hostile U.S. behavior and Washington’s failure to fulfill its commitment under the deal.
In justifying the pullback, Russian officials have pointed to the U.S. domestic battle over plutonium elimination methods. Specifically, they say the Obama administration’s proposal to cancel the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility – under construction in South Carolina to dispose of the U.S. plutonium – is a breach of the agreement. The administration is seeking an alternative method of processing plutonium that it says would be tens of billions of dollars cheaper and cut years off the project’s timeline.
After issuing the decree, Putin submitted a bill to the Russian legislature outlining 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 corresponding compensation for the damage inflicted by the economic penalties.
The State Duma on Oct. 19 passed the bill with 445 deputies in favor, sending it to the Council of the Federation for approval. It now goes on to Putin. Observers have said, however, that introduction and passage of the legislation is purely political, since Putin’s decree is already in effect.
The Council of the Federation said in announcing its unanimous decision that the agreement can be renewed by the decision of the Russian president, if the United States takes action on the conditions for resumption.
Putin was asked Thursday during a Valdai International Discussion Club session about Russia’s withdrawal from the PMDA and whether the conditions for reinstatement represent his negotiating position toward a new U.S. president after the election. The Russian leader reiterated that the U.S. failed to meet obligations under the agreement and that it cited financial difficulties, “as if we do not have such financial difficulties.”
“We built the plant, spent the money,” Putin said. “What are we, richer than the United States, or what?”
“But we will be ready to speak with a new [U.S.] president and look for solutions to any difficult questions,” Putin said.
Russia has completed construction of its own MOX facility; the former CEO of the Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corp. said last September that the plant was built in 2.5 years at a cost of slightly over $200 million.
Putin’s decree states that despite the withdrawal, the plutonium covered under the PMDA will remain outside of military use.
