A senior Russian diplomat has said that Moscow will no longer inform the US about its missile tests. Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said that Moscow has halted all information exchanges with Washington after previously suspending its participation in the last remaining nuclear arms pact with the US. Along with the data about the current state of the countries nuclear forces, the parties also have exchanged advance warnings about test launches.
Such notices have been an essential element of strategic stability for decades, allowing and the US to correctly interpret each other’s moves and make sure that neither country mistakes a test launch for a missile attack. Ryabkov’s announcement followed US officials’ statement that Moscow and Washington have stopped sharing biannual nuclear weapons data that were envisaged by the New START treaty.