Moscow - President Vladimir Putin has suspended Moscow's participation in a nuclear arms reduction treaty with Washington during a speech in which he accused the West of escalating the Ukraine conflict.
In his scathing state of the nation address to Russian lawmakers on Tuesday and days before the first anniversary of the military campaign in Ukraine, Putin also vowed that Russia would keep fighting there.
Accusing Western powers of wanting "to be done with us once and for all", he said Russia was "forced" to suspend the New START treaty but would not pull out of the agreement altogether.
The 2010 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) is the last major US-Russia arms control pact still in force but it has frayed in recent years, with accusations from Washington that Moscow was not complying with it.
Putin was speaking a day after US President Joe Biden made a surprise visit to Kyiv in which he promised additional arms deliveries for Ukraine, and before a speech by Biden in Warsaw, Poland.
Referring to the conflict in Ukraine, Putin said: "step by step, we will carefully and systematically solve the aims that face us".
He said it was "impossible to defeat Russia on the battlefield".
"The responsibility for fuelling the Ukrainian conflict, for its escalation, for the number of victims... lies completely with Western elites," Putin said.
A top US official described as an "absurdity" Putin's accusations that Russia had been threatened by the West as justification for sending troops into Ukraine.
"Nobody is attacking Russia. There's a kind of absurdity in the notion that Russia was under some form of military threat from Ukraine or anyone else," White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters in Warsaw.
Sanctions 'will not succeed'
Putin also issued a warning to critics within Russia, saying: "Those who have embarked on the path of betrayal of Russia must be held accountable under the law".
Turning to the economy, Putin said sanctions against Russia had not succeeded and were in fact hurting the West by raising energy prices.
"They have not succeeded and will not succeed," he said.
"The Russian economy has proved much more resilient than the West expected."
Russian official data on Monday showed the economy contracted by 2.1% last year despite sanctions far less than had been expected.
‘World more dangerous’
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday Russia's decision to suspend participation in the latest START bilateral nuclear arms control treaty made the world a more dangerous place, and he urged Moscow to reconsider.
He spoke at a news conference held at NATO headquarters in Brussels after Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered a warning to the West over the war in Ukraine and announced its decision on the New START treaty.
The treaty between Moscow and Washington, limits the number of atomic warheads the world's two biggest nuclear powers can deploy and is due to expire in 2026.
"More nuclear weapons and less arms control makes the world more dangerous," Stoltenberg, standing alongside Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, said.
Replying to Putin's accusations that the West was trying to destroy Russia, Stoltenberg said Moscow was the aggressor in Ukraine where it launched an invasion almost a year ago.
"It is President Putin who started this imperial war of conquest (of Ukraine) ... As Putin made clear today, he's preparing for more war ... Putin must not win ... It would be dangerous for our own security and the whole world," Stoltenberg said.
"I regret the decision by Russia to suspend its participation in (the) New START programme".
Biden
Biden is due to deliver his speech on Tuesday after talks with Polish President Andrzej Duda, who has been a key advocate for Ukraine within the EU and Nato.
At his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday, Biden pledged "unwavering" US support and some $500 million in ammunition and artillery supplies.
Biden’s visit was timed ahead of the February 24 anniversary of when Putin gave the order for Russian troops to enter Ukraine last year.
"One year later, Kyiv stands. And Ukraine stands. Democracy stands," Biden said at the Mariinsky Palace, the Ukrainian president's official residence.
When the Kremlin launched the offensive in Ukraine, its so-called "special military operation" was planned to be a rapid conquest leading to capitulation and the installation of a pro-Russian regime.
"Putin thought Ukraine was weak and the West was divided," Biden said Monday. "He thought he could outlast us."
"He's just been plain wrong," he added.
'Getting out of control'
On Tuesday, China said it was "deeply concerned" about the conflict, which it said was "intensifying and even getting out of control".
Foreign Minister Qin Gang said Beijing would "urge the countries concerned to stop adding fuel to the fire as soon as possible, to stop shifting the blame to China", following US claims that Beijing may be considering sending arms to Moscow.
China has sought to position itself as a neutral party, while maintaining close ties with its strategic ally Russia.
China's top diplomat, Wang Yi, is due in Moscow on Tuesday for talks, in his final stop of a European tour.
The Kremlin has said Wang may meet Putin during his visit, according to the state “TASS” news agency.
According to the latest estimates from Norway, the conflict has wounded or killed 180,000 Russian soldiers and 100,000 Ukrainian troops.
Other Western sources estimate the conflict has caused 150,000 casualties on each side.
AFP