Russia moves to withdraw from plutonium agreement with the United States


  • World
  • Wednesday, 08 Oct 2025

A view shows the Russian flag on the headquarters of State Duma, the lower house of Russia's parliament, in Moscow, Russia October 17, 2024. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia's lower house of parliament on Wednesday approved a move to withdraw from a landmark agreement with the United States aimed at reducing vast stockpiles of weapons-grade plutonium left over from thousands of Cold War nuclear warheads.

The Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement (PMDA), signed in 2000, committed both the United States and Russia to dispose of at least 34 tonnes of weapons-grade plutonium each, which U.S. officials said would have been enough for as many as 17,000 nuclear warheads. It came into force in 2011.

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