Russia ends freeze on developing short-, medium-ranged nuclear weapons

Russia ends freeze on developing short-, medium-ranged nuclear weapons
by Darryl Coote
Washington DC (UPI) Aug 6, 2025
Russia has announced it is ending its self-imposed moratorium on the development of short- and medium-range nuclear missiles, deepening a nuclear weapons stalemate between Moscow and Washingont.

Russia's Foreign Ministry made the announcement Monday in a lengthy statement that blamed actions taken by the United States and other nations for its decision.

"Since our repeated warnings in this regard have been ignored and the situation is developing along the path of the actual emplacement of the U.S.-made ground-launched INF-range missiles in Europe and the Asia-Pacific, the Russian Foreign Ministry has to state that the conditions for maintaining a unilateral moratorium on the deployment of similar weapons have ceased to exist," it said.

"The ministry is authorized to declare that the Russian Federation no longer considers itself bound by the relevant previously adopted self-restrictions."

INF is the abbreviation for the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty between the United States and the then-Soviet Union in 1987 that required the destruction of ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers.

The United States, under the first Trump administration, left the Cold War-era accord in 2019, following years of allegations that Russia had repeatedly violated the deal. Russia has used intermediate-range ballistic missiles in its war with Ukraine.

Russia made the announcement days after Trump on Friday confirmed that the United States repositioned two nuclear submarines in response to Russian Security Council Chairman Dmitry Medvedev informing the American president to be wary of Moscow's nuclear arsenal.

Following Russia's Foreign Ministry statement, Medvedev said it was "the result of NATO countries' anti-Russian policy."

"This is a new reality all our opponents will have to reckon with," he said on X.

"Expect further steps."

Of the nine countries with nuclear weapons, the United States and Russia have by far the most. According to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, Russia has more than 5,500 nuclear warheads and the United States has 5,044, accounting for nearly 90% of the world's nuclear weapons.