On February first U.S. President, Donald Trump, accused Moscow of violating the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty. The U.S. has since then said that it would remove itself from the treaty within the next six months. Now, on February second, President Putin, from Russia, said that they would also withdraw from the treaty.
Violation of a Treaty
On Friday President Trump accused Russia of violating the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty with impunity- or deploying missiles which had been banned inside the treaty. Trump then said in a statement that the U.S. would work to develop its military in response to Russias land-based missiles. [1]
Moscow has strongly denied any violations and accused Washington of wanting to pullout of the treaty and therefore making false accusations.
Withdrawing From the Treaty
The U.S. secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, said that the U.S. would withdraw from the treaty within the next six month unless Russia destroys their cruise missiles that Washington had claimed were in violation of the treaty.
“We cannot be the only country in the world unilaterally bound by this treaty, or any other,” [2] Trump said in a statement after accusing Russia of the violation. Soon after that statement was made, Putin said that Russia would also withdraw from the treaty.
Russia, according to Washinton, has been developing and deploying a cruise missile. This is in violation with part of the treaty which bans the production, testing, and development of land-based cruise missiles and ballistic missiles with a range of 310 to 3,410 miles.
This for That
Putin did say that Russia won’t deploy their land missiles unless the U.S. does so. “We will respond quid pro quo,” Putin said. “Our American partners have announced they were suspending their participation in the treaty and will do the same. They have announced they will conduct research and development, and we will act accordingly.” [3]
Currently both, the U.S. and Russia are planning on developing missiles and other weapons outside of the treaty. Many worry that the collapse of the treaty is a repeat of the Cold War from the 1980s.
Notes:
- ^Wilkinson, Tracy and David S. Cloud. “U.S. announces withdrawal from INF nuclear arms treaty with Russia.” latimes.com, 2 Feb. 2019, www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-trump-nuclear-treaty-20190201-story.html. (go back ↩)
- ^Givetash, Linda, et al. “Putin says Russia also suspending key nuclear arms treaty after U.S. move to withdraw.” NBC News, 2 Feb. 2019, www.nbcnews.com/news/world/putin-says-russia-also-suspending-key-nuclear-arms-treaty-response-n966146. (go back ↩)
- ^“Russia to Pull Plug on Nuclear Arms Pact After U.S. Does Same.” Truthdig: Expert Reporting, Current News, Provocative Columnists, 2 Feb. 2019, www.truthdig.com/articles/russia-to-pull-plug-on-nuclear-arms-pact-after-u-s-does-same. (go back ↩)
