Russia drops moratorium on deploying medium, shorter range missiles

Article

Tuesday, August 05, 2025

05/08/2025

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks with the head of the Russian-controlled Donetsk region Denis Pushilin during their meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia on Aug 4. (AP)

MOSCOW, Aug 5, (Xinhua): The Russian Foreign Ministry said Monday that the country no longer considers itself bound by self-restrictions on deploying medium- and short-range ground-based missiles.

The foreign ministry noted the disappearance of "conditions for maintaining a unilateral moratorium on the deployment of similar systems" under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.

Steps by the West led to the buildup of destabilizing missile potentials in the regions adjacent to Russia, posing a direct threat to the country's strategic security, the ministry said.

The nuclear treaty was an arms control deal between the United States and the Soviet Union. In 2019, the US side withdrew from the treaty, citing Russian non-compliance. Russia had suspended the treaty and declared a moratorium on the condition that the US does the same.