Wednesday Jul 16, 2025
NEWSLETTER
www.israelhayom.com
  • Home
  • News
    • Israel
    • Israel at War
    • Middle East
    • United States
  • Opinions
  • Jewish World
    • Archaeology
    • Antisemitism
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Travel
    • Fashion
    • Culture
  • Magazine
    • Feature
    • Analysis
    • Explainer
  • In Memoriam
www.israelhayom.com
  • Home
  • News
    • Israel
    • Israel at War
    • Middle East
    • United States
  • Opinions
  • Jewish World
    • Archaeology
    • Antisemitism
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Travel
    • Fashion
    • Culture
  • Magazine
    • Feature
    • Analysis
    • Explainer
  • In Memoriam
www.israelhayom.com
Home News World News

US, Russia rip up 32-year-old arms control treaty

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo blames Russia for the demise of the 1987 INF treaty, which led to the elimination of 2,692 US and Soviet Union nuclear and conventional ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles.

by  Associated Press and Israel Hayom Staff
Published on  08-02-2019 13:13
Last modified: 08-02-2019 13:39
US, Russia rip up 32-year-old arms control treatyRussian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP/File

This undated photo provided by the Russian Defense Ministry official website shows a Russian Iskander-K missile being launched during a military exercise at a training ground at the Luzhsky Range, near St. Petersburg, Russia | Photo: Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP/File

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

The United States plans to test a new missile in coming weeks that would have been prohibited under a landmark, 32-year-old arms control treaty that the US and Russia ripped up on Friday.

Washington and Moscow walked out of the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces treaty that President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev signed in 1987, raising fears of a new arms race. The US blamed Moscow for the death of the treaty. It said that for years Moscow has been developing and fielding weapons that violate the treaty and threaten the United States and its allies, particularly in Europe.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

"Russia is solely responsible for the treaty's demise," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement released on Friday.

But the US also sees an upside to exiting the treaty. Washington has complained for years that the arms control playing field was unfair. US officials argued that not only was Russia violating the treaty and developing prohibited weapons, but that China also was making similar non-compliant weapons, leaving the US alone in complying with the aging arms control pact.

Now, the US is free to develop weapons systems that were previously banned. The US is planning a test flight of such a weapon in coming weeks, according to a senior administration official, who was not authorized to publicly discuss the weapons development and spoke only on condition of anonymity.

The current Pentagon budget includes $48 million for research on potential military responses to the Russian violations of the INF treaty, but the options do not include a nuclear missile.

The official downplayed the test and said it was not meant as a provocation against Russia. Because the United States adhered to the treaty for 32 years, the United States is "years away" from effectively deploying weapons previously banned under the agreement, the official said Thursday.

Arms control advocates still worry that America's exit from the INF treaty will lead the two nations to also scrap the larger New START treaty, which expires in early 2021.

"Pulling out of this treaty leaves New START as the only bilateral nuclear arms agreement between the US and Russia," said physicist David Wright, co-director of the Global Security Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. If US President Donald "Trump pulls out of that treaty as well or allows it to lapse, it will be the first time since 1972 that the two countries will be operating without any mutual constraints on their nuclear forces."

Former US President Ronald Reagan, right, shakes hands with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev after the two leaders signed the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in 1987 AP Photo/Bob Daugherty, File

Trump hasn't committed to extending or replacing New START, which beginning in 2018 imposed limits on the number of US and Russian long-range nuclear warheads and launchers. Trump has called New START "just another bad deal" made by the Obama administration, and Trump's national security adviser, John Bolton, said in June that it's unlikely the administration will agree to extend the treaty for five years, which could be done without legislative action in either capital.

The Trump administration thinks talks about extending New START are premature. The administration claims that with China's growing arsenal of nuclear warheads, Beijing can no longer be excluded from nuclear arms control agreements. Trump has expressed a desire to negotiate a trilateral arms control deal signed by the US, Russia and China.

"We'll see what happens," Trump told reporters at the White House on Thursday. "I will say Russia would like to do something on a nuclear treaty and that's OK with me. They'd like to do something and so would I."

The administration official said the US has had regular discussions with the Russians and Chinese about the possibility of a three-way arms control agreement. Trump wants the agreement to address not just intermediate-range weapons, but "all nuclear weapons," the official said.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov urged the United States to observe a moratorium in using intermediate-range weapons.

"We invited the US and other NATO countries to assess the possibility of declaring the same moratorium on deploying intermediate-range and shorter-range equipment as we have, the same moratorium Vladimir Putin declared, saying that Russia will refrain from deploying these systems when we acquire them unless the American equipment is deployed in certain regions," he said in an interview with state news agency Tass.

European leaders are expected to react to Friday's demise of the INF with disappointment and concern.

"With the end of the INF treaty, a bit of security in Europe is being lost," German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said this week. "Now we call all the more on Russia and the US to preserve the New START treaty as a cornerstone of worldwide arms control.

"Nuclear powers such as China must also face up to their responsibility on arms control – they have more weight in the world than at the time of the Cold War."

Over its lifetime, the 1987 INF treaty led to the elimination of 2,692 US and Soviet Union nuclear and conventional ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles. Until its demise, the treaty banned land-based missiles with a range between 500 and 5,500 kilometers (310 to 3,410 miles).

Pompeo said the US first raised its concerns that Russia was violating the treaty in 2013 during the Obama administration. He said the US tried for six years to prod Russia back into compliance.

In February, Trump determined that Moscow was in material breach of the treaty and the US suspended its own obligations under the agreement. That started a six-month clock to get Russia back into compliance – time that ran out on Friday.

"As it has for many years, Russia chose to keep its non-compliant missile rather than going back into compliance with its treaty obligations," Pompeo said. "The United States will not remain party to a treaty that is deliberately violated by Russia."

Tags: arms raceballistic missilesCold WarmissilesRussiaUS

Related Posts

'Hitler' gets arrested in Germany; to serve 3 yearsREDDIT.COM

'Hitler' gets arrested in Germany; to serve 3 years

by ILH Sports Desk

A disturbing incident at Germany's Sachsenring motorcycle racing circuit has resulted in serious criminal charges for a 40-year-old neo-Nazi who...

Anti-Israel protesters block security cargo bound for Israel in Greek portReuters

Anti-Israel protesters block security cargo bound for Israel in Greek port

by Sahar Avrahami

Protesters and workers at the Port of Piraeus blocked the unloading of a ship reportedly carrying equipment bound for Israel....

Taiwan's military storms Taipei's metro in message to BeijingAnnabelle Chih/Getty Images

Taiwan's military storms Taipei's metro in message to Beijing

by Erez Linn

Taiwan tanks navigate dense urban streets amid island's biggest military exercise, with 22,000 reservists mobilized, troops training in city streets...

Menu

Analysis 

Archaeology

Blogpost

Business & Finance

Culture

Exclusive

Explainer

Environment

 

Features

Health

In Brief

Jewish World

Judea and Samaria

Lifestyle

Cyber & Internet

Sports

 

Diplomacy 

Iran & The Gulf

Gaza Strip

Politics

Shopping

Terms of use

Privacy Policy

Submissions

Contact Us

About Us

The first issue of Israel Hayom appeared on July 30, 2007. Israel Hayom was founded on the belief that the Israeli public deserves better, more balanced and more accurate journalism. Journalism that speaks, not shouts. Journalism of a different kind. And free of charge.

All rights reserved to Israel Hayom

Hosted by sPD.co.il

  • Home
  • News
    • Israel at War
    • Israel
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Sports
  • Opinions
  • Jewish World
    • Archaeology
    • Antisemitism
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Travel
    • Fashion
    • Culture
  • Magazine
    • Feature
    • Analysis
    • Explainer
    • Environment & Wildlife
    • Health & Wellness
  • In Memoriam
  • Subscribe to Newsletter
  • Submit your opinion
  • Terms and conditions

All rights reserved to Israel Hayom

Hosted by sPD.co.il

Newsletter

[contact-form-7 id=”508379″ html_id=”isrh_form_Newsletter_en” title=”newsletter_subscribe”]

  • Home
  • News
    • Israel at War
    • Israel
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Sports
  • Opinions
  • Jewish World
    • Archaeology
    • Antisemitism
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Travel
    • Fashion
    • Culture
  • Magazine
    • Feature
    • Analysis
    • Explainer
    • Environment & Wildlife
    • Health & Wellness
  • In Memoriam
  • Subscribe to Newsletter
  • Submit your opinion
  • Terms and conditions

All rights reserved to Israel Hayom

Hosted by sPD.co.il