Putin Suspends START Nuke Treaty With US; Slams Church Of England Over LGBTQ Degeneracy

Russian President Vladimir Putin during the annual state of the nation address to Russia’s National Assembly on Tuesday, said he is suspending his country’s participation in the New START nuclear arms reduction treaty with the United States.

The treaty puts limits on the number of deployed intercontinental-range nuclear weapons that the US and Russia can have. Both nations are permitted to conduct inspections of each other’s weapons sites, though inspections had been halted since 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Both the US and Russia are permitted to conduct inspections of each other’s weapons sites, under the treaty which was last extended in early 2021 for five years; though inspections had been halted since 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

According to US officials, Russia had already refused on numerous occasions to allow inspections of its nuclear facilities. “Russia is not complying with its obligation under the New START Treaty to facilitate inspection activities on its territory,” a US State Department spokesperson said in January.

"The elites of the West do not hide their purpose," Putin said in his speech, Tuesday. "But they also cannot fail to realize that it is impossible to defeat Russia on the battlefield." US President Joe Biden during his surprise visit to Ukraine, pledged more financial support for the war-torn nation's military effort against invading Russian forces.

“I don’t know how to call this other than a theater of the absurd,” Putin said. “We know that NATO is complicit in the attempts by the Kyiv regime to strike our air bases. And the drones used for this have been equipped and modernized by NATO specialists. And now they want to come and inspect our bases? Given the current confrontation, this just sounds like complete nonsense.”

“In this regard, I am forced to announce today that Russia is suspending its participation in the strategic offensive arms treaty,” Putin said.

In a lengthy statement published on its website, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said the decision to suspend participation in the treaty is “reversible,” saying that ” Washington must show political will, make conscientious efforts for a general de-escalation and create conditions for the resumption of the full functioning of the Treaty and, accordingly, comprehensively ensuring its viability.”

The ministry calls on the United States “to refrain from steps that could prevent the resumption of the New START in the event that the necessary conditions for this mature;” adding that Russia would respect the nuclear weapons caps established under the treaty.

In his speech Tuesday, Putin also slammed the Church of England over its recent decision to bless homosexual couples, and its debate over using gender-neutral pronouns for God in prayers. "Christians have recognised since ancient times that God is neither male nor female," a spokesperson for the Church said earlier this month. "Yet the variety of ways of addressing and describing God found in scripture has not always been reflected in our worship."

"The Church of England is considering a version of a 'gender-neutral' God," Putin said. "They don’t know what they’re doing."

The Church of England has also come under attack from conservatives over its decision to grant blessings to same-sex couples in civil marriages.

Questioning the observations by the institution, Putin said: “Their prime target is of course younger people and our young generation. And here, again, they lie constantly. They distort historical facts, they constantly attack our culture, the Russian Orthodox Church, and other traditional religious organisations of our country."  

 “I’d like to say to them, look at the holy scripture, the holy books of all other world religions," he continued. "It’s all said there -- including the fact that family is the union of a man and a woman. But even those sacred texts are being reviewed now. As it became known, the Anglican Church for example plans to, just plans at this point, to consider the idea of gender-neutral God. What can I say? May God forgive them for they know not what they do."

A day after his surprise visit to Kyiv, Biden on his part addressed a large crowd on Tuesday, in Warsaw, Poland. "Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia," he said. "For free people refuse to live in a world of hopelessness and you know, this has been an extraordinary year in every sense. Extraordinary brutality of Russian forces and mercenaries. They have committed depravities, crimes against humanity without shame or compunction." 

The US president accused Putin of atrocities and said his attempt to subjugate a sovereign nation wouldn’t succeed. “President Putin’s craven lust for land and power will fail,” he said, one of the 10 separate times he singled out the Russian leader by name in his address.

WATCH Putin's remarks on START treaty with US, and Church of England's debate over gender-neutral pronouns for God