United States Withdraws from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty
Today, the United States withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. The United States says “Russia is solely responsible for the treaty’s demise.” The Treaty, signed in 1987 by President Ronald Reagan and General Secretary Gorbachev of the Soviet Union, required the “destruction of the [United States’ and Soviet Union’s] ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges of between 500 and 5,500 kilometers, their launchers and associated support structures and support equipment,… [and] ensured compliance with the total ban on possession and use of these missiles” in the future. The U.S. claims since “at least the mid-2000s, Russia developed, produced, flight tested, and has now fielded multiple battalions of its noncompliant missile.” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the U.S. “will not remain party to a treaty that is deliberately violated by Russia,” but “calls upon Russia and China” to begin working towards “a new era of arms control.”
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