Russia says it suspended nuclear pact because U.S. was using it to help Ukraine

General view as Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov attends the Conference on Disarmament at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland March 2, 2023. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

GENEVA (Reuters) -Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Thursday that Moscow had been forced to suspend its participation in the New START nuclear arms control treaty because Washington was using it to help Ukraine attack Russian strategic sites.

Speaking at the United Nations Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, Ryabkov said the United States and its Western allies wanted to see Russia strategically defeated in Ukraine and accused them of fanning conflict there.