On the 4th, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement announcing that Russia will no longer abide by the ban on the deployment of intermediate-range missiles, accusing the United States and NATO of planning to deploy similar weapons in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.
The “Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty” (INF Treaty) was signed on December 8, 1987, in Washington by then U.S. President Ronald Reagan and former Soviet Union General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev. The treaty took effect on June 1 the following year and aimed to eliminate land-based ballistic missiles and cruise missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers from both countries.
In October 2018, during his first term, President Trump claimed that due to Russia not playing by the rules, and to counter China’s military expansion in the Pacific, the United States would withdraw from the treaty. The US officially withdrew in August 2019.
After the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that Russia is no longer bound by the INF Treaty, Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council, accused NATO countries of abandoning their stance on suspending the deployment of intermediate- and short-range nuclear missiles, and said Moscow will take further countermeasures.
On the 4th, Medvedev wrote in English on X: “The statement of the Russian Foreign Ministry on the cancellation of the suspension of the deployment of intermediate- and short-range missiles is the result of the anti-Russian policies of NATO countries.”
He said: “This is the new reality that all our opponents must face. The best is yet to come.” He did not elaborate further.
Medvedev previously served as Russia’s Prime Minister and President, and is a close confidant of Russian President Putin.