Overview

• Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told lawmakers Russia now deems keeping obligations under the plutonium pact unacceptable and is formally ending cooperation.
• The State Duma passed a federal law to withdraw from the 2000 Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement, with Federation Council approval and a presidential signature still required.
• Ryabkov cited U.S. sanctions, a Ukraine support law, NATO expansion, and a fundamentally changed strategic environment as reasons for the step.
• Moscow objected to U.S. disposal plans it says departed from MOX fuel conversion and could allow future recovery of plutonium, undermining verification.
• The agreement covered 34 tons of weapons-grade plutonium per side—enough for nearly 17,000 nuclear weapons in total—and Russia had suspended its implementation in 2016.