Russia has demanded the US lifts all sanctions against Moscow before it will resume an agreement on the disposal of weapons-grade plutonium.

Vladimir Putin has ordered a halt to a deal with America, citing Washington's "unfriendly actions".

An accord was signed in 2000 requiring each country to dispose of at least 34 tonnes of plutonium by burning it in nuclear reactors.

The two countries recommitted to the deal six years ago.

However, following the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan in 2011, the US opposed the building of a fuel reprocessing plant.



Instead, US energy officials pushed for another method of disposal, calling for plutonium to be mixed with other substances and stored underground.


Moscow argued any method to dilute plutonium is reversable and earlier this year Mr Putin accused the US of destroying it in a way that allowed it to be used again.

A decree published on Monday states Russia is pulling out of the agreement "due to a drastic change in circumstances, the appearance of a threat to strategic stability due to unfriendly actions of the United States toward Russia".

It also claimed Moscow "must take urgent measures to defend Russian security".

Mr Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said Washington has not honoured the agreement.

However, a bill submitted by Mr Putin to parliament, which asked lawmakers to support the agreement's suspension, indicated there may be a way to keep the deal alive.

It said it may be reinstated if Washington moves US forces out of countries that became NATO members after 2000, ends "all sanctions" and compensates Moscow for the financial losses resulting from them.

Russia is at loggerheads with the West over its 2014 annexation of Crimea and the conflict in Ukraine.