Gorbachev called the withdrawal from the INF Treaty a mistake by the United States

The first and only president of the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev, who concluded the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) with the United States in 1987, assessed the consequences of the almost inevitable rupture of the treaty in 2019 in a column for Vedomosti. We have selected his main points.

• The INF Treaty was beneficial to the USSR, and later to Russia , even despite the need to destroy the newly created precision missiles. "All these years, the INF Treaty has served the security of our country, eliminating the possibility of the appearance of "decapitation weapons" near its borders."
• The US has no reasonable reason to withdraw from the treaty. This cannot be explained by US security concerns or even by the presence of intermediate-range missiles in third countries, including China. “It is difficult to demand restraint from them if one of the superpowers is breaking the restrictions and is going to increase its nuclear weapons.”
• The US is consistently dismantling the system of nuclear security treaties , starting with its withdrawal from the ABM Treaty. "Of the three main pillars of global strategic stability - the ABM, INF and START treaties - only one remains, but the fate of the new START treaty, signed by Presidents Medvedev and Obama in 2010, is becoming unclear."
• The real reason for the US withdrawal from the INF Treaty is "the US desire to free itself from any restrictions in the sphere of armaments, to obtain absolute military superiority." Donald Trump's words about the intention to conclude a new, "good" treaty are only a cover for a new dangerous stage of the missile race.
• The INF Treaty is not obsolete, it can still be saved. Gorbachev calls on Democrats and Republicans in Congress to overcome their partisan differences and begin a serious conversation. "I am confident that Russia will be ready for it," Gorbachev writes.
• Politicians must abandon militaristic thinking “to prevent the world from sliding into an arms race, confrontation, and hostility.”

Background. The INF Treaty prohibits the development and deployment of missiles with a range of 500–5,500 km. The main goal of the treaty, signed in 1987, was to save Europe from the danger of becoming the arena of a nuclear clash between the USSR and the USA.

Donald Trump announced the US plan to withdraw from the INF Treaty last fall. He cited China's missile program, which is not bound by the treaty, as one of the reasons. The reason for the withdrawal was the Russian 9M729 missile, which, according to Washington, violates the treaty. Moscow has repeatedly denied this.

In January, the White House announced that it would suspend its participation in the INF Treaty as of February 2 and would withdraw in six months if Russia did not return to compliance.

What now. The only agreement between Russia and the United States regulating nuclear weapons remains the New START Treaty on measures to further reduce and limit strategic offensive arms, signed by Dmitry Medvedev and Barack Obama in 2010. It expires at the beginning of 2021.

Sergey Smirnov