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The day Washington suspended its INF Treaty role
Summary
A retrospective on the United States announcement of 1 February 2019 over the 1987 missile treaty with the USSR and its successor state, Russia.
What did it mean when the United States said it would step back from a treaty signed with the Soviet Union? On 1 February 2019, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that Washington was suspending its role in the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.
The agreement dated from 1987 and was made with the USSR, with Russia as its successor state. It banned both countries from possessing or testing nuclear and conventional intermediate-range missiles, as well as their launchers. Pompeo cited Russian non-compliance as the reason for the suspension.
Framing the move
The announcement was reported within the context of Russia–United States relations and of what some scholars and journalists call Cold War II, or the Second Cold War. That label has been applied to heightened geopolitical tensions in the 21st century, usually between the United States and NATO on one side and Russia or China on the other. Some commentators have discouraged using it for ongoing tensions.
What was stated
The stated basis was Russian non-compliance with the treaty, and the step announced was a suspension of the U.S. role. The treaty's ban covered both nuclear and conventional intermediate-range missiles, so the announcement touched an arrangement that applied to each side equally.
