The Russian Foreign Ministry has officially announced that Moscow no longer considers itself bound by earlier self-imposed restrictions on deploying intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles (INF), citing escalating threats from the West.
“The conditions for maintaining a unilateral moratorium on the deployment of such weapons have disappeared,” declared the Foreign Ministry. “The Russian Federation no longer considers itself bound by the corresponding self-limitations previously adopted.”
According to the Ministry, the increasing presence of destabilizing missile systems by Western nations in adjacent regions poses a direct threat to Russian national security. The statement warned that these developments could lead to severe consequences for both regional and global stability, potentially triggering “dangerous escalation” between nuclear powers.
Russia prepares countermeasures
In response to these perceived threats, Russia says it will take compensatory military-technical steps to preserve strategic balance. Decisions regarding the nature of these responses will be made based on interagency assessments of Western missile deployments—particularly American systems—and overall trends in global security and strategic stability.
“The decisions on specific response measures will be made by the leadership of the Russian Federation,” the Ministry emphasized, “based on interdepartmental analysis of the scale of American and other Western INF deployments.”
Historical context: The INF Treaty’s breakdown
The INF Treaty (Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces) was signed in 1987 between the United States and the Soviet Union. The agreement banned the production, testing, and deployment of ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers. Between 1988 and 1991, both countries destroyed a combined total of 2,692 such missiles, with the Soviet Union accounting for 1,846 of them and the United States 846.
In 2018, Washington accused Moscow of violating the treaty through the development of the 9M729 cruise missile, prompting the United States to formally withdraw from the agreement in 2019. Russia, in turn, pointed to the deployment of Mk-41 launchers in Romania as a violation of the treaty's terms. By July 2019, President Vladimir Putin had signed a law suspending Russia's participation in the treaty.
Strategic shifts and future deployments
In late 2023, Washington announced plans to deploy long-range weapons in Germany by 2026, prompting Moscow to issue fresh warnings. President Putin confirmed that Russia had begun development of new intermediate and shorter-range missiles. The Foreign Ministry has also suggested that deployments could extend to the Asia-Pacific region if necessary.
This latest statement from Moscow signals the full abandonment of its previous restraint, opening the door to a new phase in the global arms race, particularly in Europe and Asia.
