Arms race worries increase as U.S./Russia nuclear deal ends

WASHINGTON — The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty between Russia and the United States ended Friday, setting the stage for a potential arms race between the world’s two largest nuclear powers.

The U.S. and its NATO allies have for years been accusing Russia of violations of the INF treaty, one of only two arms control deals between the powers. Earlier this year, the U.S. announced it was pulling out, saying it would not be bound by a deal Russia disregarded.

The cessation of the treaty comes as the two former Cold War rivals look at a rising China and reconsider their military postures. The U.S. has begun to describe its global defense strategy in terms of renewed great power competition, with a wary eye on both Russia and China.

Moscow’s Foreign Ministry said that Washington had to answer for the treaty’s collapse, since it ended “due to an initiative by the U.S. side.”

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo countered, saying, “Russia is solely responsible for the treaty’s demise.”

Russia has regularly denied it violated the 1987 agreement, which banned ground-launched nuclear missiles with a range of between 500 and 5,500 kilometers (approximately between 300 to 3,400 miles). Thousands of missiles, on both sides, were destroyed before the U.S.S.R. broke up.

In the short term, the move is primarily a blow for European security, given the range of the missiles affected by the INF treaty, as the agreement was originally designed to reduce competition on the continent in the final years of the Cold War.

“With the end of the INF Treaty, a piece of Europe’s security has been lost,” said German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said, blaming Russia for the demise of the treaty.

However, in Washington, politicians were starting to look beyond the European theatre that was dominant in the past, and focused on the future in the Pacific region.

“Since the strategic environment has changed rapidly since the end of the Cold War, we need to find ways to use arms control to address the rise of China’s nuclear arsenal,” said Michael McCaul, the top Republican on foreign affairs in the House of Representatives.