Protest against the dissolution of the INF Treaty by activists outside the American embassy in Berlin, Fb.1, 2019. Omer Messinger/Press Association. All rights reserved.
On 1 February the White House announced US "suspension" of the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, which Presidents Reagan and Gorbachev signed in 1987. A day later Vladimir Putin announced Russia would suspend as well. Freed of the Treaty's restraints, Russia is now posed to deploy a new generation of medium-range nuclear weapons on its territory again.
Once again, Donald Trump has played into Putin's hands, to the detriment of US and European security. Unless wiser heads prevail in the next six months, the Putin-Trump team is set to destroy this successful Treaty that halted the US-Soviet arms race, pulled Europe away from the brink of nuclear war, and paved the way for the cold war to end.
