“The world does not need a new arms race, something that is not beneficial for anyone and, on the contrary, will bring even more instability,” the EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said after US President Donald Trump announced that his country was withdrawing from the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.
“Thanks to the contract, almost three thousand missiles with nuclear and conventional warheads have been removed and become subject to destruction,” Mogherini added.
European leaders have already supported the Americans, urging the Russian government to become more transparent in terms of its new missile arsenal and its capabilities, but ultimately Brussels opposes the withdrawal of the US from the agreement, thanks to which nuclear missiles has been held outside Europe for three decades.
However, the British reaction was quite interesting. It came from the Minister of Defence Gavin Williamson, who expressed a desire for the treaty to survive, but accused Russia of its failure to do so. He also supported the decision of the Trump Administration.
Signed in Washington by the Heads of State of US and USSR, the treaty regulates the removal of nuclear and conventional (non-nuclear) ground ballistic missiles with medium and small range (reaching 500 to 5500 kilometres).
The decision to withdraw from the treaty was widely criticised as a mistake by US nuclear experts saying this would favour more Russia than the US, arguing that Russia will now not be restricted in the development of small and medium-sized rockets and the US is unlikely to find allies wishing to accept such missiles on their land.
They argue that the same applies to the Pacific, where the Chinese deployment of mid-range missiles is cited as an excuse for the US exemption from the limitations of the contract. It seems unbelievable to have enthusiasm among the friends and allies of Washington in Asia for the deplyment of terrestrial missiles with nuclear warheads. Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and Vietnam will hopefully accept these missiles.
In parallel, Donald Trump announced that the US will increase its nuclear potential until the remaining countries “are not being judicious”. According to the White House, China and Russia do not fulfil their commitments under the 1987 Agreement on the elimination of medium and short-range nuclear weapons. Trump insists that the Treaty should be applied not only by Russia and the United States, but also by China.
