Overview

• Lawmakers voted on October 8 to withdraw from the 2000 intergovernmental agreement and to end all related protocols.
• The government introduced the denouncement bill to the State Duma on July 31.
• The original pact required each side to dispose of 34 tons of weapons-grade plutonium, with protocols covering financing, civil liability, and disposal through reactor irradiation.
• The agreement and protocols had been suspended earlier by presidential decree and federal law over U.S. sanctions, Washington’s support for Ukraine, NATO expansion, and a planned U.S. change to disposal methods without Russia’s consent.
• Accompanying materials state that none of Russia’s conditions—such as lifting sanctions, repealing the Ukraine support law, compensation, and reducing NATO infrastructure—were met, and they cite new steps that alter the strategic balance.