Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty

INF Treaty full form, Intermediate Range Nuclear Force Treaty, was signed in December 1987 by President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev. The INF Treaty requires the United States and Soviet Union to eliminate and permanently reject all their nuclear and conventional ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles within ranges of 500 to 5,500 kilometers. 

The treaty marked the first time the imperialists had admitted to minimizing their nuclear arsenal, eliminating the complete category of nuclear weapons, and using  extensive in-house inspections for verification. Due to the INF treaty, the United States and Soviet Union ruined a total of 2692  short, medium, and intermediate-range missiles by the treaty's implementation deadline of June 1, 1991.

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INF Treaty Overview

The INF Treaty Between the USA and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the eradication of their Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles, commonly referred to as the INF (Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces) Treaty. The INF treaty requires eradication of the parties' ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges of between 500 and 5,500 kilometers, their launchers and associated support structures and support equipment within three years after the treaty enters into force.

The Soviet Union in the mid of 1970 achieved rough strategic parity with the United States. The Soviet Union subsequently began replacing older intermediate-range SS-4 and SS-5 missiles with a new intermediate-range missile, the SS-20, bringing about what was considered as a qualitative and quantitative change in the European security situation. The SS-20 was portable, precise, and capable of being obscured, and rapidly reallocated. It carried three independently targetable missiles, as distinguished from the single missile carried by its antecedents. The SS-20s 5,000 kilometer range permitted it to cover targets in Western Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and, from bases in the eastern Soviet Union, most of Asia, Southeast Asia, and Alaska.

The Treaty was signed by President Reagan and General Secretary Gorbachev on December 8, 1987, at a summit meeting in Washington. During signature, the Treaty's verification rule was the most definite and rigid in the history of nuclear arms control, designed both to eliminate all declared INF systems entirely within three years of the Treaty's entry into force and to ensure conformity with the complete ban on possession and use of these missiles.

The United States eliminated its last ground-launched cruise missile and ground-launched ballistic missile covered under the INF Treaty in May 1991. On May 11, 1991, the last declared Soviet SS-20 was eliminated. After the treaty came into effect, almost 2,692 missiles were eliminated.

Where Did The INF Treaty Apply?

The INF Treaty is applied to all ground based missiles regardless of their equipment. A unique interpretation introduced in the spring of 1988 during the ratification process, elaborated that it covered all missiles that came under the definition regardless of whether they were equipped with nuclear, conventional, or “exotic” warheads.

What Is Changed By INF Treaty Collapse?

The INF Treaty introduced in 1987 was the first agreement between Russia and the US that put an end to entire categories of nuclear weapons. For over 30 years, both sides admitted the eradication of all nuclear and conventional ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges of between 500 and 5,500 kilometer. At the height of the rivalry, the INF Treaty banned and eradicated over 2,600 of the most weakened class of intermediate-range missiles, thereby retrieving the world from the edge of nuclear war and revivifying further deep wounds in the two largest nuclear arsenals.

The INR treaty collapse follows the period of public disagreements between the two states about the affirmation that Russia was smashing the INF Treaty, and against the backdrop of a new nuclear arms race. On February 1, 2019, when the US declared its intended withdrawal from the INF Treaty, President Vladimir Putin responded in kind by announcing Russia was suspending its observance of the Treaty. Both houses of the Russian parliament voted to support this move in June 1991.

With the collapse of the INF Treaty, the US and Russia are now free to build and set up this category of weapons, which would fall in line with their illusive determination to set up a new nuclear arms race. The US alone is defended to spend $1.2 trillion to maintain and modernize its existing arsenal, and there have been indications that  the companies producing nuclear weapons are preparing to build nuclear weapons capable of striking within the 500 to 5500 km range.The collapse of the INF Treaty is a significant loss that puts the world and specifically Europe at increased risk.