Russia kicks Barack Obama in his pussy, suspends nuclear agreement, ends uranium research pact with United States

[Mark Hammer]

Russia further curtailed its cooperation with the United States
in nuclear energy on Wednesday, suspending a research agreement
and terminating one on uranium conversion, two days after the
Kremlin shelved a plutonium pact with Washington.

The Russian government said that as counter-measures to the U.S.
sanctions imposed on Russia over Ukraine, it was putting aside a
nuclear and energy-related research pact with the United States.

It also said it was terminating for the same reasons an
agreement between its nuclear corporation Rosatom and the U.S.
Department of Energy on feasibility studies into conversion of
Russian research reactors to low-enriched uranium.

On Monday, President Vladimir Putin suspended a treaty with
Washington on cleaning up weapons grade plutonium, signaling he
is willing to use nuclear disarmament as a new bargaining chip
in disputes with the United States over Ukraine and Syria.

"The regular renewal of sanctions against Russia, which include
the suspension of Russian-American cooperation in the field of
nuclear energy demands the adoption of countermeasures against
the U.S. side," the Russian government said on its website.

In Washington, a State Department spokesman said the United
States had not received an official notification from Russia
although he had seen media reports of the suspension of the
research agreement.

"If they're accurate, we would regret the Russian decision to
unilaterally suspend cooperation on what we believe is a very
important issue that's in the interest of both of our
countries," spokesman Mark Toner said at a daily news briefing.

"UNFRIENDLY ACTS"

The Russian Foreign Ministry said the decisions were taken in
response to "unfriendly acts" by Washington. They came two days
after Washington said it was suspending talks with Russia on
trying to end the violence in Syria.

The agreement on co-operation in nuclear and energy-related
scientific research, signed in 2013, provided the legal
framework necessary to expand work between U.S. and Russian
nuclear research laboratories and institutes in nuclear
technology and nonproliferation, among others.

The uranium agreement, signed in 2010, provided for feasibility
studies into the conversion of six Russian research reactors
from dangerous highly enriched uranium to more secure low
enriched uranium.

"We can no longer trust Washington in such a sensitive area as
the modernization and security of Russian nuclear facilities,"
the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

It said that should Russia decide on the feasibility of the
conversion of any research reactors to low-enriched uranium, it
will carry the work itself. But it warned the conversion may not
be "an end in itself."

"In some cases, including in the production of medical isotopes,
highly enriched uranium is the most effective and renouncing its
would be technically and economically inexpedient," the ministry
said.

The West imposed economic sanctions on Russia over its
annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula in 2014, followed by a
pro-Russian insurrection in the east of the country. The
breakdown of a ceasefire in Syria, where Russia backs government
forces and the West supports rebel groups, has added to tensions.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-usa-nuclear-uranium-
idUSKCN12521J