Retaliatory measures: Russia lifted self-restrictions on the INF Treaty
On Monday, August 4, Russia announced the termination of the unilateral moratorium on the deployment of ground-based intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles (INF) against the background of actions taken by the collective West in the field of INF proliferation. The Russian Foreign Ministry stressed that the actions of the West pose a threat to the security of the Russian Federation, and the country needs to take certain measures. For more information about the INF Treaty and the reasons for lifting the moratorium, see the Izvestia article.
Lifting of Russia's self-restrictions on the INF Treaty
The Foreign Ministry announced the lifting of Russia's self-restrictions on the INF on August 4, clarifying that the steps of the "collective West" lead to the formation and build-up of destabilizing missile capabilities in the regions adjacent to Russia, posing a direct threat to the security of the Russian Federation, and of a strategic order. The Ministry stressed that such a development carries a serious negative charge and significant detrimental consequences for regional and global stability, including a dangerous escalation of tension between the nuclear powers.
"Since our repeated warnings in this regard have been ignored and the situation is developing along the path of the actual deployment of American-made ground—based INF missiles in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, the Russian Foreign Ministry notes the disappearance of conditions for maintaining a unilateral moratorium on the deployment of similar weapons and is authorized to declare that the Russian Federation no longer considers itself related to the relevant previously adopted self—restrictions," the statement says.
The INF Treaty: what is it, the main provisions, the execution
The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) was signed on December 8, 1987 by the USSR and the USA. Entered into force on July 1, 1988. The document became unique due to the fact that for the first time in history, two countries intended to eliminate an important class of weapons. The INF Treaty has made a huge contribution to nuclear disarmament and has been an important factor in maintaining strategic stability and international security.
The document provided for a ban on the production, testing and deployment of land-based ballistic and cruise missiles (SLBMS and SLBMS, respectively):
— shorter range (from 500 to 1000 km);
— medium range (from 1000 to 5500 km).
There was also a ban on launchers for them.
During the period of the treaty, both sides destroyed 2,692 INF missiles (1846 — USSR, 846 — USA), which were equipped with 4,000 warheads.
After the collapse of the USSR, in addition to Russia and the United States, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine carried out the implementation of the treaty. In order to monitor the implementation of the INF Treaty, inspections were conducted on the ground until May 2001, including at missile production sites. The fulfillment of contractual obligations was monitored by a Special Control Commission (CCC), which held 29 sessions until October 2003. Subsequently, the commission was not convened for a long time (until 2016), as it was believed that all the necessary measures had been completed by the country.
Vladimir Putin's Global INF Treaty Plan
In 2007, Russian President Vladimir Putin came up with the idea of making the obligations under the INF Treaty global. This initiative was supported by the United States. In the same year, at the 62nd session of the UN General Assembly, a Joint Russian-American Statement on the INF Treaty was circulated, calling on all interested countries to discuss the possibility of making the treaty global. Despite this, the initiative has not received further practical development.
Termination of the agreement
In the 2010s, mutual accusations of violating the terms of the agreement began to arise between Russia and the United States. The American side claimed that the adopted Russian KRNB 9M729 allegedly has a prohibited range in the range of 500-5500 km. Despite Russia's calls, the United States has not specified the circumstances underlying the claims.
Russia, in turn, filed a counterclaim regarding the use of target missiles (Hera, MRT, Aries, Storm-2, etc.) during missile defense tests, the characteristics of which are similar to the INF. The United States qualified them as authorized surface—to-air missiles.
In addition, Russia pointed to the deployment of American Mk-41 ground-based launchers in Romania and Poland, the use of which involved launching anti-missiles and medium-range missiles. Another violation on the part of the United States was the production and use by the United States of attack unmanned aerial vehicles with a range of over 500 km. In 2012-2013, according to the Russian Federation, the United States conducted tests of the AGM-158B cruise missile with a range of 1,000 km.
At the end of 2018, during the first presidential term of Donald Trump, the United States, without providing evidence of a violation of the treaty by Russia, announced its withdrawal from the INF Treaty if Moscow did not return to its implementation within 60 days. In response, Vladimir Putin noted that as a pretext for a unilateral withdrawal, the Americans "are using the already familiar and trivial way of unsubstantiated accusations of Russia violating its obligations under the treaty, which they themselves have already violated, and violated long ago."
In January 2019, the Russian Federation and the United States held consultations in Geneva (Switzerland) and Beijing (China) to resolve their differences, but they could not be overcome. Then, on February 1, 2019, the United States announced the suspension of obligations under the INF Treaty the next day, and from August 2, the suspension of participation in it, unless "Russia takes action to return to compliance with its provisions."
Russia took counter action, and on February 2 of the same year, Vladimir Putin announced the suspension of participation in the Treaty. On March 4, he signed a corresponding decree, which was approved by Parliament and signed on July 3.
The official announcement of the termination of the INF Treaty was announced by the Russian Foreign Ministry on August 2, 2019.
Russia and the United States after the termination of the INF Treaty
After a mutual refusal to follow the Treaty, Russia announced that it would not deploy the INF as long as the United States refrained from doing so. In 2020, Vladimir Putin proposed the mutual abandonment of the INF Treaty.
"While remaining committed to a consistent position on the full compliance of the 9M729 missile with the requirements of the previously existing INF Treaty, the Russian Federation is nevertheless ready, in good faith, to continue not to deploy 9M729 missiles in the European part of the country, but only on condition of reciprocal steps by NATO countries that exclude the deployment of weapons in Europe that were previously prohibited by the The INF Treaty," Vladimir Putin said in a statement.
The United States and its allies rejected this proposal.
In the summer of 2024, Vladimir Putin announced his readiness to start production of the INF Treaty in connection with the actions of the United States: "I said that due to the withdrawal of the United States from this Treaty and the announcement that they were starting production, we also consider ourselves entitled to begin development work, development, and in the future, production. So we're doing this R&D and development, and we're ready to start production. In principle, we have already given relevant instructions to the industry."
He also recalled that Russia is ready to take mirror measures in the event of the deployment of American INF missiles in any region of the world.
As Dmitry Kornev, a military expert and editor of the MilitaryRussia website, previously explained to Izvestia, officially Russia does not have intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles. However, now the development of domestic rocket technology is at such a high level that the Russian Federation can create missiles of this class quickly enough, since it already has all the technological developments. The new medium- and shorter-range missiles, according to the expert, may be based on the technology that was used to create the Iskander-M 9M723, the expert suggested.
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