Putin accelerates Russia's collapse with his own hands - diplomat Yelchenko

He expressed this opinion in the Verdict with Serhii Rudenko program on Espreso TV. 

“New START does not have a provision for suspension of participation at all - this is Putin's invention. You can withdraw from the treaty or stay. The truth is that the Russians cannot do anything. The treaty contains two more important things. The first is the possibility of inspections, and they have already been suspended since the beginning of the COVID-19, and the second is that this treaty limits the number of warheads on both sides to 1,500. At one time, military experts calculated that even this would be more than enough to destroy each other and our entire planet along with other countries,” Yelchenko explained.

According to the diplomat, while the United States can quickly increase the number of warheads, for Russia it means following the path of the USSR, which collapsed because it could not withstand the economic and financial stress.

“In the USSR, almost all funds were spent on the nuclear program, on the creation of new warheads and missiles. In addition, the vast majority of carriers capable of carrying charges are nearing the end of their service life. 99% were created in Dnipro, and the warranty period of these carriers is about 40 years. The rest were built in the late 70s and early 80s of the last century. And after 2020, they all become unusable. They need to be maintained and their service life extended, and there is no one in Russia to do this. Russia also needs money, and sanctions are working. If Putin wants to accelerate the collapse of Russia, he does it with his own hands,” Yelchenko emphasized.

• On February 3, NATO called on Russia to fulfill its obligations under the New START.

• On February 21, Putin threatened to expand the war if the West provided Ukraine with long-range weapons. In addition, the Russian dictator said that Russia was suspending its participation in New START. Vladimir Putin also ordered the Russian military to prepare for nuclear weapons tests.