Russia has suspended its deal with the United States to dispose of weapons-grade plutonium.
The agreement has been put on hold due to the United States’ “unfriendly actions,” which posed “strategic threat to stability,” a decree published on Russia's government website said.
The document also claims that the United States was incapable of “fulfilling its duties to utilize of surplus weapons-grade plutonium in accordance with international agreements.”
The Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement was signed between the two countries in 2000, as “an essential step in the process of nuclear disarmament.”
The protocol came into force in 2010 after being renegotiated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and then U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Under the agreement, each side must dispose of 34 metric tons of plutonium each year in a way that it can “never be used for weapons or any military purpose.”
Russian President Putin accused the United States in April of not sticking to the agreement, claiming that the White House was merely storing the plutonium in liquid form which could later be used for military purposes.
“We have fulfilled our obligations, our American partners have not,” Putin said.
