Russia’s New Start Speech is More Scare Tactics Than New Arms Race, Says Former Ambassador

That fits with how Moscow has historically handled such negotiations. [John] Tefft recalled previous similar displays, such as in 1983 when negotiators working for the then Soviet Union walked out of the first Strategic Arms Reduction Talks.

The Soviets “tried to use every which way to put pressure on the Reagan administration to negotiate or to terminate the deployment of medium range weapons and all the rest of you know, the history of this,” he said. “I think this is a standard technique that Moscow uses to try to influence Western public opinion. And I'm not sure it's going to be very successful now.”

Sam Bendett, an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security and an adviser at the CNA Corporation, said Putin’s announcement was likely “Russia signaling it does not want to be bound by international standards and norms it thinks work to the U.S. advantage.”

Read the full story and more from Defense One