Russia withdraws from unilateral moratorium on land-based missile deployment

ISTANBUL

Russia announced on Monday that it has abandoned the moratorium on the deployment of land-based intermediate- and short-range missiles. ​​​​​​

According to a statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry, the decision was made after the conditions for maintaining a unilateral moratorium on the deployment of such weapons disappeared, removing the self-imposed restrictions.

The statement noted that the US and NATO allies had not reciprocated Russia's efforts to restrict missile deployment, citing the movement of missile launch platforms to Europe, the Philippines, and Australia as a direct threat to Russian security.

Russia would withdraw from the moratorium to maintain strategic balance and counter this new threat, it added.

The moratorium was based on the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, signed between the US and the former USSR in 1987, which banned all of the two nations' nuclear and conventional ground-launched ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and missile launchers with ranges of 1,000–5,500 kilometers (620–3,420 miles) and 500–1,000 kilometers (310–620 miles).

US President Donald Trump withdrew the US from the treaty in 2019, citing Russian non-compliance, while Russia denied the allegations and said it would not deploy such weapons provided that Washington, DC, did not do so.