Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for resuming production of intermediate- and shorter-range nuclear-capable missiles banned under a now-scrapped treaty with the United States.
Under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty (INF), signed by Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan in 1987, the two superpowers agreed to abandon their nuclear and conventional ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges of 500 to 5,500 kilometers (about 310 to 3,410 miles).
The accord eliminated an entire category of nuclear weapons and initiated comprehensive on-site inspections for verification, according to the Arms Control Association. Under the terms of the treaty, the U.S. and Russia destroyed 2,692 short-, medium- and intermediate-range missiles by the treaty’s June 1, 1991, implementation deadline, according to the Arms Control Association. Läs artikel