Moscow comments on collapse of arms control treaty with US

Russia can deploy ground-based intermediate-range missiles wherever it deems necessary, the Kremlin spokesman has said

Russia has the right to deploy ground-based intermediate-range missiles “when deemed necessary,” following the collapse of the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty with the US, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said. Moscow had previously opted not to station the weapons in certain regions unless the US and its allies did so first.

On Monday, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that the “actions of Western countries” had made Moscow’s adherence to the moratorium no longer viable as they were creating a “direct threat” to Russia’s security.

Asked by journalists to comment on Tuesday, Peskov said Russia “no longer has any limitations in this regard” and “no longer considers itself bound by anything.” Moscow reserves the right to deploy these missiles “when deemed necessary,” he added.

The Kremlin spokesman did not elaborate on whether decisions on potential missile deployments had already been made. “One can hardly expect any announcements here,” Peskov said, describing it as a question of national defense and “a sensitive and secretive field.”

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The INF Treaty between the US and USSR banned ground-launched missiles with ranges of 500-5,500km. It collapsed in 2019 when Washington unilaterally withdrew from the agreement during Donald Trump’s first presidential term. The US justified the move by citing alleged Russian violations. Moscow has vehemently denied the claims, accusing the US itself of developing banned missiles.

Russia subsequently called on NATO and the US to exercise restraint and refrain from deploying the systems as it announced its own moratorium on their deployment. Last year, Moscow warned it could lift the moratorium after the US announced plans to deploy long-range weapons in Germany in 2026.

On Monday, the Foreign Ministry also cited the deployment of a Typhon missile launcher in the Philippines by the US last year as one of the reasons behind the policy change.