Putin intends to continue with the 'special military operation' in Ukraine
President Vladimir Putin has made it clear that he intends to continue with the "special military operation" in Ukraine, the latest Ministry of Defence (MOD) Intelligence states.
The Russian president was speaking during his first State of the Nation speech since 2021.
Putin characterised Western elites as having "become a symbol of total unprincipled lies" as he announced that he had suspended Russia from the New Start nuclear arms treaty.
New Start treaty
The 2010 treaty provides limits on the deployed strategic nuclear arsenals of the world's two largest nuclear powers, the US and Russia.
According to the US Defence Department, the New Start treaty "limits all Russian deployed intercontinental-range nuclear weapons, including every Russian nuclear warhead that is loaded onto an intercontinental-range ballistic missile that can reach the United States in approximately 30 minutes".
It also provides joint monitoring of each side's deployed nuclear arsenals.
The US and the Russian Federation had agreed to extend the treaty through to 4 February, 2026, but the latest reports appear to confirm that Putin has said Russia will halt its participation in New Start.
Strategic nuclear assets had been capped at 1,550 deployed warheads and 700 deployed missiles and heavy bombers.
The US Department of Defence stated that "both the United States and the Russian Federation met the central limits of the New Start Treaty by 5 February, 2018, and have stayed at or below them ever since".
The MOD intelligence highlighted Putin's "continued bellicose tone" in speeches over the last six months but also made note that he "did not reveal any practical measures which might relieve Russia's current deadlock on the battlefield".
Also underlined in the MOD's latest update, is that the Russian president "continues to present a contradictory narrative of existential struggle while insisting everything in Russia is fine and going to plan", which the MOD concludes "renders both messages ineffective".
Downing Street has said the UK "will not waver" in its support for Ukraine after Vladimir Putin accused the West of provoking the invasion he launched almost a year ago.
The Russian President used his state of the nation address to claim Ukraine "has become hostage of the Kyiv regime and its Western masters, which have effectively occupied the country".
The UK's ambassador in Kyiv, Dame Melinda Simmons, said: "Nobody is responsible for the Russian invasion of Ukraine but Russia."
Join Our Newsletter
