BBC NEWS | Europe | Russia abandons Start II arms treaty

Russia has formally withdrawn from the Start II treaty, the nuclear arms reduction pact it signed with the United States in 1993.

Russia called the accord "meaningless" given the current US defence policies.

The move comes a day after the expiry of the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty, from which Washington unilaterally withdrew so it could work on a missile defence system.

The Start II treaty was also superseded by a nuclear arms reduction treaty signed on 24 May this year in Moscow by Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart, George W Bush.

'Formality'

Defence analysts in Moscow say the Start II treaty has been dead in the water for some time and that Russia's announcement is a mere formality.

Start II would have reduced each side's nuclear warheads to about 3,000 each.

However when it was ratified in Moscow, Russian lawmakers linked it to the preservation of an earlier Cold War deal - the ABM - which prevented either side from creating a national missile defence system.

Much to Russia's dismay, President Bush announced in December that the US would unilaterally withdraw from the ABM treaty - a move which came into effect on Thursday.

As a concession to the Kremlin, President Bush was finally persuaded to sign a new arms deal with President Putin.

During their summit in Moscow last month the two leaders agreed that both sides would cut their nuclear arsenals by two-thirds, bringing down the number of warheads to about 2,000 each.

That, combined with Washington's withdrawal from the ABM deal, means that Start II was simply overtaken by events.