INTERMEDIATE-RANGE NUCLEAR FORCES TREATY

March 5, 2019

Russian President Vladimir Putin has officially suspended the Russia's participation in the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF treaty) between the USSR and the United States.

About:

Signatories: Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty was a crucial Cold War-era treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union (and later its successor state Russia).
Objective: The treaty banned the development, testing and possession of short and medium range ground-launched nuclear missiles with a range of 500-5,000 km.
Timeline:
- The treaty, signed in 1987, was central to ending the arms race between the two superpowers, and protected America’s NATO allies in Europe from Soviet missile attacks.
- In October 2018, the United States declared its intention to withdraw from the treaty on the ground that Russia has been violating it for many years by deploying banned missiles. Russia accused United States of making false accusations.
- On 1 February 2019, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the U.S. was suspending the treaty. On 2 February 2019, Vladimir Putin announced that Russia will also suspend the treaty soon.