safe passage for drugs. empty food shelves in the uk. why are some supermarkets having to limit sales of fruit and veg? live from our studio in singapore. this is bbc news. it s newsday. welcome to the programme. we have a tale of two presidents for you this hour from the us and russia. we ll get to the american president joe biden in a moment but first russian leader vladimir putin. he s announced he s suspending russian participation in the last major nuclear arms control agreement with the us. in his two hour state of the nation address, mr putin accused the west of starting the war in ukraine and seeking to destroy russia in a global confrontation. our russia editor steve rosenberg reports. the world according to vladimir putin feels like a parallel universe. who started the war in ukraine? not russia, he says. translation: responsibility - for fuelling the ukrainian conflict, for its escalation, and for the growing number of victims lies fully with the west and, of
Arsenals and provides for missile inspections. no longer topical, says the kremlin. translation: we know that the west has directly helped kyiv to launch strikes on airbases where our strategic nuclear bombers are located. now they want to carry out inspections of our military sites. in light of today s confrontation, that is absurd. applause. support here, but unpicking that treaty risks a nuclear arms race. in order to avoid nuclear war, it s better to have a framework, but losing this framework, we are witnessing the real threat of a nuclear war. washington says the kremlin s decision to halt participation in the nuclear treaty is deeply unfortunate and irresponsible. the bbc wasn t allowed to attend the kremlin leader s big speech.
Concerning now that putin. what does putin s concerning now that putin. what does putin s announcement, - concerning now that putin. what does putin s announcement, as you say, as he referred to, what does that mean for the us and russia? well, it is very concerning. it s also important to note that what the russians have said and what putin has said, that they intend to abide by the numerical limits of the treaty. what they are suspending is the participation in onside inspections, which both sides had to spend it during the pandemic, but in the last six months or so, the united states has said, ok, it is time to work out the protocols for inspections and we can manage the pandemic. the russians haven t been willing to do that to come and apparently they may now also be suspending their obligation to provide data and information according to the treaty. so this is very troubling because you can t pick and choose and selectively implement on the parts of the treaty. it s putting the
At the nonprofit organisation, the nuclear threat initiative in washington and was involved in the negotiation of this treaty which putin has now suspended. it is great to get you on this programme. just to say, you are intimately involved in this, weren t you? and at the time, why is this treaty important? what was the thinking behind a? it s what was the thinking behind a? it s important because it is the only treaty that puts limits on both us and russian nuclear arms as well as provide verification mechanisms to make sure that both sides are complying. this is one in a series of. i complying. this is one in a series of. ., ., ., , ., complying. this is one in a series of. .,., , ., of. i do apologise for the delay, lease of. i do apologise for the delay, please go of. i do apologise for the delay, please go ahead. of. i do apologise for the delay, please go ahead. i of. i do apologise for the delay, please go ahead. i was of. i do apologise for the delay, please go ahead. i
Treaty. it s putting the whole treaty at risk. treaty. it s putting the whole trea at risk. ~ ., ., , , ., treaty at risk. what does this mean for other nuclear treaty at risk. what does this mean for other nuclear countries - treaty at risk. what does this mean l for other nuclear countries because? i m thinking about china, for instance, wejust spoke i m thinking about china, for instance, we just spoke to our correspondent there that china has tried to remain neutral on this issue. . , ., , issue. there are several different asset facets issue. there are several different asset facets to issue. there are several different asset facets to the issue. there are several different asset facets to the china - asset facets to the china question. on one hand, the president of china probably has more ability to influence president putin and any other world leader. and when the whole international community was so concerned last summer and fall when president putin was kind