Watch: Vladimir Putin speaks to reporter, says 'can't ignore' nuclear weapons of NATO countries

President Vladimir Putin has indicated Russia suspended its participation in the New START treaty not only because of U.S. nuclear capabilities but those of other NATO countries as well.

In an interview with Russian state television on Sunday, Putin reiterated that NATO countries are seeking a "strategic defeat" of Russia. Putin alleged the West wants to eliminate Russia, a notion that he has repeatedly used to justify Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

“They have one goal: to disband the former Soviet Union and its fundamental part — the Russian Federation,” Putin said. Appealing to his citizenry's nationalistic sentiments, Putin predicted that if the West succeeds in destroying Russia and establishing control, ethnic Russians may not survive as distinct people.

“There will be Muscovites, Uralians and others,” he said of Russia’s possible fragmentation into regional groupings. he West could only partly accept Russia into the so-called “family of civilised peoples,” breaking the country into separate pieces, he theorised.

New START is the last remaining arms control agreement between Moscow and Washington.

In suspending his country’s participation, Putin said Russia can’t accept U.S. inspections of its nuclear sites under the pact while Washington and its NATO allies seek Russia’s defeat in Ukraine.

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