What the post-INF Treaty world will be like

The United States formally suspended the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty on Feb 1, forcing Russia to do so a day later, which heightened regional and international security risks.

Due to the disputes between Washington and Moscow on the INF Treaty, the discussions on global security at the Munich Security Conference on Feb 16 could hardly bear tangible fruits. No wonder NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg appealed before the conference that Russia and the US should abide by the INF Treaty even while stressing that NATO should prepare for a future without an INF Treaty.

The INF Treaty was signed by the US and the Soviet Union (and its successor state Russia) in 1987, eliminating the two countries' land-based ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and missile launchers in the ranges of 500-1,000 kilometers and 1,000-5,500 km. By 1991, in fact, the two countries had eliminated 2,692 missiles followed by a decade of on-site verification inspection.