Russian Duma Seals Withdrawal From Plutonium Agreement with the U.S.
The lower house of the Russian parliament, the State Duma, voted to withdraw Russia completely from a key nuclear disarmament treaty with the United States. The Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement (PMDA), which regulates the destruction of large quantities of weapons-grade plutonium, is now finally history.
The agreement, known as the Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement (PMDA), was a key pillar of nuclear disarmament after the Cold War. / Picture: © Wikimedia Commons, Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation, CC BY 4.0
Moscow justified the move by citing “new anti-Russian steps” by the U.S. that fundamentally altered the strategic balance and created additional threats to strategic stability. The PMDA was originally signed in 2000 and entered into force in its amended form in 2011. It committed both nuclear powers to dispose of at least 34 tons of highly radioactive material each, an amount that, according to U.S. data, would have been sufficient to build up to 17,000 nuclear warheads.
Dispute over disposal method as the cause
Russia's implementation of the treaty had already been suspended in October 2016 by a decree issued by President Vladimir Putin. At the time, the government in Moscow cited U.S. sanctions and NATO expansion as the primary reasons. Another key point of contention was the change in the disposal method planned by the U.S.: While the agreement provided for the conversion of plutonium into mixed oxide fuel (MOX) or irradiation in reactors, the U.S. planned to simply dilute it with non-radioactive material for cost reasons. Moscow saw this as a breach of the agreement, as this dilution could theoretically be reversed and the material would therefore not be “destroyed.”
The Duma's formal termination of the agreement further exacerbates tensions between the two countries. After dismantling thousands of warheads after the end of the Cold War, Russia and the U.S. still have a combined total of around 8,000 nuclear warheads, which are costly to store and pose a security risk.
Momentum of the Alaska summit “disappeared”
Parallel to the escalation in the area of nuclear disarmament, the diplomatic initiative following the recent summit meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin has also cooled.
Just under two months after the meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov considers the diplomatic momentum for a peace agreement in Ukraine to have largely evaporated. “Unfortunately, we have to admit that the strong momentum generated in Anchorage in favor of agreements has largely disappeared,” Ryabkov said, according to ORF.
Ryabkov blamed Europe for the deadlocked situation and accused European countries of wanting to wage “war until the last Ukrainian.” The summit in Alaska, which took place in mid-August, ended without tangible results, with both sides describing the talks as constructive but inconclusive. Moscow's latest statements indicate that even this diplomatic rapprochement has failed to overcome the fundamental differences between the powers in the Ukraine conflict.
IAEA reaction still pending
There is currently no specific and official statement from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on the Russian Duma's decision to withdraw from the plutonium agreement.
However, in the weeks leading up to the formal termination, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi had already issued urgent warnings about the erosion of the global arms control architecture. In September 2025, Grossi expressed concern that the world could be entering an era in which 20 to 25 states possess nuclear weapons, making global security “unpredictable and dangerous.” Such developments, such as the withdrawal from disarmament treaties, exacerbate this global uncertainty from the perspective of the Atomic Energy Agency.