By Anjali Sharma
WASHINGTON – Russia on Tuesday has officially exited the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty days after US President Donald Trump announced deployment of 2 nuclear submarines at an undisclosed location “closer to Russia.”
Russian Foreign Ministry in a statement cited the recent US military actions as reason behind the move.
It stated that it would no longer follow restrictions on missile deployments as per the treaty’s conditions.
“The Russian foreign ministry notes the disappearance of conditions for maintaining the unilateral moratorium on the deployment of similar weapons and is authorized to state that Russia no longer considers itself bound by the corresponding self-imposed restrictions previously adopted,” the statement read.
The INF treaty banned deployments of ground-launched missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers. However, the treaty was already on the verge of collapse after the US pulled out of it in 2019.
Trump ordered the deployment of two nuclear submarines to undisclosed locations “closer to Russia” in response to an alleged threat made by former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
“I have ordered two Nuclear Submarines to be positioned in the appropriate regions, just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that,” the US president announced.
“Words are very important, and can often lead to unintended consequences. I hope this will not be one of those instances,” he added.
Medvedev, who serves as deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, made a reference to the Soviet-era automatic nuclear retaliation system “Dead Hand”.
“And about India’s and Russia’s ‘dead economies’ and ‘entering very dangerous territory’ well, let him remember his favorite movies about ‘the walking dead,’ as well as how dangerous the fabled ‘Dead Hand’ can be,” he said.
The peace talks in Ukraine appears to have escalated into a dangerous standoff between the two most powerful nuclear-armed nations, with Trump moving away from mere rhetoric to overt military posturing.
