US National Security Advisor to the President John Bolton, speaking at the Young America Foundation’s forum, confirmed that the United States will officially withdraw from the Medium and Short Range Missile Treaty (DDSMD) on Friday, August 2.

“The official termination of the INF Treaty will take place this Friday, when the US withdraws from the treaty,” said Trump’s advisor.

Later, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the alliance is already preparing for the scenario of the dissolution of the INF range.

"We must ensure that after the collapse of the treaty, we still have reliable defense and deterrence, and we will take the necessary measures to do this," Roltenberg quoted RIA Novosti as saying.

Shortly after Bolton’s statement, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that Moscow does not rule out the possibility of deploying missiles that were previously prohibited by the treaty in response to similar actions by the United States.

“Yes, all options will be on the table. Flight time here, of course, is a key moment, ”the diplomat told Interfax.

Ryabkov added that such a scenario of the deployment of medium-range and shorter-range missiles by the United States is still regarded as “abstract”, but if it is implemented, Russia will take retaliatory actions that “would create a similar degree of threat to our potential opponents”. In this situation it will be possible to draw an analogy with the Caribbean crisis, the diplomat believes.

“We have a moratorium on the deployment of such systems, as announced by Putin, and this moratorium is a signal of a responsible attitude towards international security. Those who are now undermining it and can destroy it - they bear full responsibility. Unfortunately, this super-easy attitude to such serious issues is traced in the US policy and their NATO allies, ”Interfax quotes Ryabkov.

The Russian diplomat expressed the hope that "the harsh reality of the upcoming day after tomorrow will somehow educate these people."

History of SMDR

Recall, the Treaty on the Elimination of Medium and Shorter-Range Missiles between Moscow and Washington was concluded on December 8, 1987. Then the USSR and the United States agreed to completely destroy ground-based missiles, the range of which ranged from 500 to 5.5 thousand km, and launchers.

  • National Security Advisor John Bolton
  • Reuters
  • © Kevin Lamarque

By 1991, the Soviet Union was utilizing ballistic missiles R-12 and R-14, as well as the Pioneer, Temp-S complexes and even, as a gesture of goodwill, the Oka (its range did not exceed 400 km). The Pentagon, in turn, got rid of the systems "Pershing" and ground-based versions of the cruise missile "Tomahawk."

Despite the fact that Russia as the successor of the USSR over the past decades has followed the terms of the treaty, Washington accused the Russian side of violating the treaty. In particular, the United States claims that the 9M729 cruise missile of the Iskander complexes is capable of covering a distance of over 500 km.

In 2018, under this pretext, the Donald Trump administration announced its intention to unilaterally withdraw from the INF Treaty, after which, in early 2019, it began an official procedure.

Moscow tried to keep the treaty valid - the Russian Defense Ministry held a special briefing for foreign military attaches with a demonstration of the 9M729 missile and its technical characteristics, but the representatives of the United States and NATO countries ignored it.

There is no doubt that the active position of the United States to get out of all agreements where Russia is present is aimed at the complete dismantling of the nuclear deterrence system, a military political analyst and head of the Department of Political Science and Sociology of the PRUE. G.V. Plekhanov Andrey Koshkin.

“No agreement today, the US does not hold back. Americans have long been engaged in the development of medium-range missiles, improve the defense industry potential, spend funding new projects and conduct tests. Today, Washington is improving the nuclear triad and launching new nuclear weapons projects in space, ”the expert said.

Dismantling the nuclear safety system

In his speech, John Bolton also made it clear that the Trump administration is not going to extend the Treaty on Measures to Further Reduce and Restrict Strategic Offensive Arms, or START III.

  • Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and US President Barack Obama at the signing ceremony of the Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (START).
  • RIA News
  • © Dmitry Astakhov

“The new treaty, ratified in 2010, had flaws from the very beginning. It expires in February 2021. So far the decision has not been made, but it is unlikely to be renewed, ”said Bolton.

Trump's national security adviser explained that the reason for this is the absence in the treaty of provisions on short-range tactical nuclear weapons and “new Russian delivery systems”.

“Why extend the flawed system in order to simply say that you have a contract?” He added.

The START III Treaty was signed in 2010 by the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama, and the President of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev. It provides for the mutual reduction of nuclear charges to 1,550 units for each of the parties, and intercontinental launch vehicles, ballistic missiles for submarines and bomber aircraft - up to 700 units. The document expires in 2021.

After a unilateral exit from the INF Treaty and the refusal to extend START III, the United States finally dismantled the entire system of international nuclear security treaties that was established after the end of the Cold War. A start was made under the administration of George W. Bush, who in 2001 unilaterally withdrew the United States from the Treaty on the Limitation of Anti-Ballistic Missile Defense Systems (PRO), experts say.

“If START III is not extended, the arms limitation system will simply cease to operate. Over time, other armaments control mechanisms may emerge, but before that the US administration should change, with a different approach to the problem, ”said Vladimir Bruter, an expert at the International Institute for Humanitarian and Political Studies, in an interview with RT.

New Trump Contract

At the same time, Donald Trump himself said that Washington and Moscow would come to some kind of “agreement” on arms control.

“I think in the end we will conclude an agreement with Russia on arms control, because now we are busy only building up what we don’t really need. And China is trying to keep up with us, ”Trump said in an interview with C-SPAN.

  • George Bush announces US withdrawal from ABM Treaty in 2001
  • Reuters
  • © Kevin Lamarque

Trump had previously said that in the place of the INF Treaty he wants to create a new agreement on nuclear weapons, of which the United States, Russia and China would become members. However, representatives of the PRC noted that they did not agree with this position. So, on July 30, the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the PRC, Hua Chunin, announced this, commenting on the proposal of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs to conclude a new multilateral treaty in return for the INF.

“As for making the INF Treaty multilateral, we have already said that this is a bilateral agreement concluded between Russia and the United States. If the treaty becomes multilateral, it will affect a whole range of complex political, military and legal issues, ”Chuying said, noting that the Chinese side does not support such an initiative.

The representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the PRC added that such proposals are an attempt to justify Washington’s withdrawal from the INF.

According to Andrei Koshkin, Trump offers new approaches to curbing the arms race to limit the capabilities of the PRC.

“Washington’s goal is Beijing. The Americans want China to conduct an audit, including a nuclear one, and then they will limit the development of its nuclear missile potential, ”the political scientist believes.

Vladimir Bruter, in a conversation with RT, drew attention to the discrepancy in the positions of Bolton and Trump, given that their statements followed one after another. The United States plans to expand and modernize its nuclear arsenal, regardless of how much it will threaten other countries, he explained.

“They constantly play a certain performance, where the national security adviser is an evil investigator, and the US president is a good one. What Bolton and Trump say is not true. Washington wants to untie its hands in order to continue arms buildup where it will be most dangerous for Russia and China, which, in the opinion of the American side, are potential adversaries of the United States, ”the expert concluded.