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Why did the Russian Duma repudiate START II in 2002?

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Strategic Arms Reduction Talks U.S. Pres. Barack Obama talking with Russian Pres. Dmitry Medvedev, just before the two leaders issued a joint statement about their continued cooperation on the New START Treaty, December 4, 2009.

The Russian Duma repudiated the START II treaty in June 2002 primarily as a direct response to the United States' withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty.1

The treaty had become a "hostage" to growing Russian frustration with Western foreign policy in the Balkans and the Persian Gulf, as well as increasing concerns regarding American attitudes toward the ABM Treaty. By 2000, the Duma had explicitly linked the fate of START II to the preservation of the ABM Treaty. When the administration of U.S. Pres. George W. Bush moved to abandon the ABM Treaty—which Russia viewed as a cornerstone of strategic stability—the Duma responded by formally repudiating START II. Additionally, some Russian officials had long argued that the proposed nuclear reductions in START II were not deep enough, while others noted that Russia lacked the economic resources to decommission its weapons at the pace the treaty required.12