Nuclear security

A US-Russia pact preventing nuclear Armageddon is in trouble

Chances are slipping for the timely extension of a landmark nuclear-weapons treaty that has successfully checked the impulses of the United States and Russia to build ever-growing atomic arsenals.

That is the sobering message from last weekend’s Munich Security Conference, where the former Cold War enemies continued accusing each other of fouling the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. The poisoned discourse puts into question whether that pact’s bigger sibling, the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, will continue past its February 2021 expiration date, according to analysts.

“The United States is mistrustful of Russia and treaty compliance after the INF experience,” Kori Schake, a deputy director-general of the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, told Defense News. “And rightfully so.”

The Trump administration walked away from the missile treaty in early February after years of Washington's complaints that one of Moscow's cruise missile types was secretly deployed or tested in violation of the pact. The next day, Russia announced its intention to also exit the treaty, with top officials saying that new weaponry of the once-prohibited range class would swiftly be developed.