Russia further curtailed its
cooperation with the United States in nuclear energy on Wednesday, suspending a
research agreement and terminating one on uranium conversion, two days after
the Kremlin shelved a plutonium pact with Washington.
The Russian government said
that as counter-measures to the U.S. sanctions imposed on Russia over Ukraine,
it was putting aside a nuclear and energy-related research pact with the United
States.
It also said it was
terminating for the same reasons an agreement between its nuclear corporation
Rosatom and the U.S. Department of Energy on feasibility studies into
conversion of Russian research reactors to low-enriched uranium.
On Monday, President Vladimir
Putin suspended a treaty with Washington on cleaning up weapons grade
plutonium, signaling he is willing to use nuclear disarmament as a new
bargaining chip in disputes with the United States over Ukraine and Syria.
"The regular renewal of
sanctions against Russia, which include the suspension of Russian-American
cooperation in the field of nuclear energy demands the adoption of
countermeasures against the U.S. side," the Russian government said on its
website.
In Washington, a State
Department spokesman said the United States had not received an official
notification from Russia although he had seen media reports of the suspension
of the research agreement.
"If they're accurate, we
would regret the Russian decision to unilaterally suspend cooperation on what
we believe is a very important issue that's in the interest of both of our
countries," spokesman Mark Toner said at a daily news briefing.
"UNFRIENDLY ACTS"
The Russian Foreign Ministry
said the decisions were taken in response to "unfriendly acts" by
Washington. They came two days after Washington said it was suspending talks
with Russia on trying to end the violence in Syria.
The agreement on co-operation
in nuclear and energy-related scientific research, signed in 2013, provided the
legal framework necessary to expand work between U.S. and Russian nuclear
research laboratories and institutes in nuclear technology and
nonproliferation, among others.
The uranium agreement, signed
in 2010, provided for feasibility studies into the conversion of six Russian
research reactors from dangerous highly enriched uranium to more secure low
enriched uranium.
"We can no longer trust
Washington in such a sensitive area as the modernization and security of
Russian nuclear facilities," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
It said that should Russia
decide on the feasibility of the conversion of any research reactors to
low-enriched uranium, it will carry the work itself. But it warned the
conversion may not be "an end in itself."
"In some cases, including
in the production of medical isotopes, highly enriched uranium is the most
effective and renouncing its would be technically and economically
inexpedient," the ministry said.
The West imposed economic
sanctions on Russia over its annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula in 2014,
followed by a pro-Russian insurrection in the east of the country. The
breakdown of a ceasefire in Syria, where Russia backs government forces and the
West supports rebel groups, has added to tensions.
(Additional reporting by
Anastasia Lyrchikova in Moscow and Mohammad Zargham in Washington; Writing by
Lidia Kelly; Editing by Ralph Boulton)
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