Russia stops sharing nuclear forces information with US

A senior Russian diplomat said Wednesday that Moscow has suspended sharing information about its nuclear forces with the United States, including notices about missile tests.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in remarks carried by Russian news agencies that Moscow has halted all information exchanges with Washington after previously suspending its participation in the last remaining nuclear arms pact with the US.

Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin suspended the New START treaty, charging that Russia can't accept US inspections of its nuclear sites under the agreement at a time when Washington and its NATO allies have openly declared Russia's defeat in Ukraine as their goal.

Moscow emphasised that it wasn't withdrawing from the pact altogether and would continue to respect the caps on nuclear weapons.

The Russian Foreign Ministry initially said Moscow would keep notifying the US about planned test launches of its ballistic missiles.

The Russian military was conducting drills of its strategic missile forces Wednesday, deploying mobile launchers in Siberia in a show of the country's massive nuclear capability amid the fighting in Ukraine.