US trying to trigger an arms race

THE UNITED STATES withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty on Friday, as scheduled. Beijing Youth Daily comments:

Russia said it is not bound by the INF Treaty any more at the same time. It means that after being in place for 32 years, the treaty is now dead.

The treaty limited both nations from fielding both "short range" and "intermediate range" land-based ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and missile launchers that could be used to house either nuclear or conventional payloads, in a bid to pull Europe from under the shadow of an arms race between the two giants.