Russia’s lower house of parliament approved withdrawing from the Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement (PMDA) with the United States, which aimed to dispose of at least 34 tonnes of weapons-grade plutonium from Cold War stockpiles.

The agreement, signed in 2000 and in force since 2011, sought to convert plutonium into safer forms like MOX fuel or irradiate it in reactors for electricity production.

Russia cited U.S. sanctions, NATO expansion, and Washington’s unilateral changes to plutonium disposal as reasons for its withdrawal.

Moscow had already suspended the agreement in 2016 over similar concerns, claiming the U.S. failed to adhere to the pact, Reuters has reported.

Together, Russia and the U.S. remain the world’s largest nuclear powers, controlling about 8,000 warheads combined, far below Cold War-era peaks.