Putin uses nuclear threat to divide West in support of Ukraine – diplomat Bryza

This was stated by former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza on Espreso TV.

"He (Putin - ed.) chose to freeze the New START treaty or freeze its implementation but not to leave it or not to abrogate that treaty. I think what Putin is doing is sending a signal to the United States that the entire framework of arms control that's been in place since the 1970s with the Anti-ballistic missile treaty in 1972, which the US by the way left of course in 2002. But this entire framework is gone and he wants to generate a fear especially in Europe that the United States is behaving in a dangerous way that could lead to some sort of a nuclear confrontation not only between the US and Russia but between Europe and Russia. So Putin is using that threat trying to undermine the unity of the transatlantic community in supporting Ukraine," he emphasized.

According to Matthew Bryza, Vladimir Putin did not talk about Russia's withdrawal from the agreement, because then he would have worked against his own goal. The US diplomat believes that such a step would have little impact, because since the beginning of the pandemic, Russia has not allowed the US to track its compliance with the treaty. When Russia launched a full-scale war against Ukraine, such visits became impractical.

"This is another symbolic gesture aiming to sow fear and there's no reason why the Strategic stability is going to be undermined in any way by Russia freezing its implementation of the treaty," said Matthew Bryza.