On Wednesday, Russia’s State Duma voted to withdraw from an historic deal that required Washington and Moscow to dispose of surplus weapons-grade plutonium, Reuters reports.
The move is against the Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement (PMDA), signed in 2000 and in force since 2011. The pact had obligated both countries to eliminate at least 34 metric tons of plutonium for nuclear weapons by making it into mixed-oxide fuel or burning it in fast-neutron reactors—a venture meant to minimize proliferation risks after the Cold War.
In favor of the pullout were voices claiming that American actions since the signing of the agreement “changed the strategic balance” and presented new dangers. For years, Moscow has complained Washington had strayed from a “dilute-and-dispose” course to the trajectory Russia says was to have been taken when the deal was signed, one that Moscow asserts diluted the intent of the agreement. Russia suspended implementation in 2016 due to sanctions, NATO expansion, and broader tensions with the United States.
Arms-control collaboration between the two nuclear states has increasingly disintegrated. While contemporary stockpiles are substantially below late-Cold War peaks, the United States and Russia each hold the world’s largest quantities—combined around 8,000 warheads—demonstrating the stakes in future protection and verification.
- 2000: United States and Russia sign the PMDA to neutralize surplus plutonium.
- 2011: PMDA enters into force after technical and funding hurdles.
- 2016: Russia suspends participation, citing sanctions and disposal-method disputes.
- Oct. 8, 2025: State Duma votes to withdraw from the pact.
The Duma measure is a clear break from a focal point of nonproliferation activity and renders any attempt to re-create technical collaboration on plutonium disposition more burdensome in the context of increased geopolitical hostility.
A global media for the latest news, entertainment, music fashion, and more.
