United States and Russia reaffirm support for INF treaty.

• Author: Crook, John R.

In a joint statement issued in New York in October, the United States and Russia affirmed continuing support for the 1987 INF Treaty, (1) in which the Soviet Union and the United States agreed to eliminate ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with intermediate ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers. The joint statement also called for a broader, global ban on such weapons systems. There has been growing concern about the Treaty's prospects, in light of recurrent suggestions by President Vladimir Putin and other senior Russian officials suggesting that the Treaty is incompatible with Russia's security, as well as threats by some Russian officials to withdraw from it. (2) An excerpt from the joint statement follows.

December 8, 2007 marks the twentieth anniversary of the signing of the Treaty between the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the United States of America on the Elimination of Their Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles which banned ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers. It is hard to overestimate the historic significance of this act: it marked an important, practical step in meeting our NPT Article VI obligation to pursue negotiations in good faith on nuclear disarmament. By late May 1991 the USSR and the U.S. destroyed all missiles of these two classes along with all supporting infrastructure under strict verification procedures. We would like to underscore the contribution of this Treaty to decreased international tensions, particularly in Europe. The Russian Federation and the United States take this occasion to reaffirm our joint support for the INF Treaty. We are concerned...