In a significant development amid rising geopolitical tensions, Russia has officially declared that it is no longer bound by the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. The announcement comes just days after US President Donald Trump ordered the deployment of two nuclear submarines to what he described as “the appropriate regions” close to Russia.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry stated that the moratorium on the deployment of short- and medium-range nuclear missiles no longer applied, citing the “direct threat” posed by the actions of Western countries. According to the ministry, “West’s build-up of destabilizing missile potentials create a direct threat to the security of our country.”
The INF Treaty, signed during the Cold War by then-US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, banned all land-based missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers. While the United States had already withdrawn from the treaty in 2019, Russia had maintained a self-imposed moratorium — until now.
Russia Warns of ‘New Reality’ Following Treaty Collapse
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, now deputy head of the Security Council, directly blamed NATO for the collapse of the moratorium and warned that Moscow would take further steps in response.
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“This is a new reality all our opponents will have to reckon with. Expect further steps,” Medvedev said, continuing his increasingly confrontational rhetoric on social media, particularly aimed at President Trump.
Although Medvedev did not specify what those steps might be, the tone of the statement indicated potential military countermeasures. Russia has long accused the United States and its allies of destabilizing the global strategic balance.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had earlier hinted at a shift in policy, saying that US and NATO actions in the Asia-Pacific and European regions might prompt a Russian response. The Russian Foreign Ministry reiterated this, stating, “Since the situation is developing towards the actual deployment of US-made land-based medium- and short-range missiles… the conditions for maintaining a unilateral moratorium… have disappeared.”
