In a significant move responding to US President Donald Trump’s provocative deployment of nuclear submarines near Russian borders, Moscow has officially announced its withdrawal from the Cold War-era Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.
The Kremlin cited Trump’s submarine deployment and “the actions of Western countries” as creating a “direct threat” to Russia’s national security.
The INF Treaty, signed in 1987 by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and US President Ronald Reagan, was designed to eliminate an entire category of ground-launched nuclear missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometres. It effectively banned short- and medium-range nuclear weapons, greatly reducing the threat of nuclear conflict in Europe.
Although the United States withdrew from the treaty in 2019 during Donald Trump’s first term—citing alleged Russian violations—Moscow had, at the time, refrained from deploying such missiles, stating it would only act if Washington did so first.
Following the U.S. exit, Russia declared a self-imposed moratorium, choosing not to position INF-range missiles unless provoked by American deployments.
That stance has now changed. Russia’s latest move follows Trump’s announcement that two U.S. Navy nuclear submarines had been deployed to “appropriate regions” near Russia, in response to what he called “highly provocative” remarks by former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
In a statement reported, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that evolving security dynamics in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region have compelled Moscow to reconsider its stance on missile deployments.
“Given the ongoing developments toward the actual deployment of U.S.-made land-based medium- and short-range missiles in Europe and the Asia-Pacific, the conditions for maintaining a unilateral moratorium on deploying similar weapons no longer exist,” the ministry stated. (Agencies)
