More pertinent is that, when the Russians withdrew from the CFE treaty, they could be considered within their rights, as the other European nations hadn't ratified it (*because the Russians had failed to adhere to it's conditions in Georgia etc).
But in restarting these flights the Russians are abrogating a nuclear arms treaty they signed with both the UK and USA. In effect, all previous nuclear treaties, such as START I, II etc, can be considered as no more than useless pieces of paper.
Grauniad: ..........
Last night analysts described Russia's move as a "grave development". They said Mr Putin appeared to have unilaterally abrogated an agreement with the US and Britain signed in 1991 not to engage in long-range nuclear bomber flights.
Russia's then president, Boris Yeltsin, and the former Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, signed the agreement with the then US president George Bush senior. Under it all sides agreed to reduce their strategic rocket forces and to stop long-range bomber flights.
"This is a very grave development that threatens the US with nuclear weapons. It means that Russian bombers will be ready to attack the US at a moment's notice just like in the cold war," said Pavel Felgenhauer, a leading Moscow-based defence analyst. Mr Felgenhauer said the bombers would be deployed in positions north of Britain over the North Pole, from where they would be able to fly across the Pacific or Atlantic to attack US targets.
He also said there was a real risk that bombers equipped with nuclear warheads might crash. "These flights are very dangerous. The planes are old and the maintenance is patchy. Crews are not always as best prepared as in the cold war. A crash with nuclear weapons is very possible," he warned.......