Scrapping of treaty makes future of world uncertain

On Feb 2, the United States announced it would withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty alleging that Russia had violated the 1987 agreement to eliminate the two countries' land-based ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and missile launchers in the short range (500-1,000 kilometers) and intermediate range (1,000-5,500 km).

Refuting the US allegation, Moscow claimed it was Washington that had violated the INF Treaty by deploying the MK-41 vertical launching system in Europe, which can launch Tomahawk cruise missiles up to 2,400 kilometers away and thus hit targets in Russia. And responding to the US' move to withdraw from the treaty, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a bill on July 3 to suspend the treaty until the US stops violating it or until it expires.

The war of words and saber-rattling between Washington and Moscow over the INF Treaty, the first such agreement to reduce the two countries' nuclear arsenal during the Cold War, has left the treaty hanging in limbo.