Vladimir Putin recently announced that he has ordered Russia's military to immediately start producing more medium-range missiles. The Russian leader made the order as a response to Trump's decision to abandon a decades-old Cold War nuclear arms treaty. Putin made it clear that Russia was also suspending its involvement in the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces treaty, which was signed in 1987.
According to ABC News, the call for more nuclear warheads in Russia happened just a day after Trump officially pulled out of the treaty. President Trump alleged that Russia was the first one that violated the terms of the agreement and that the United States was no longer going to honor their part in it.
The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) was an agreement between the United States and the Soviet Union to eliminate any further use and development of intermediate-range missiles. The treaty was signed in Washington by then-President Ronald Reagan and Russia's General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev on December 1987.
Putin ordered the Russian military to develop new weapons to add to their already substantial arsenal. This included the development of new ground-launched hypersonic missiles that were previously banned under the treaty. Russia is also planned to convert a number of their sea-based cruise missiles. Putin claims that Russia doesn't have any plans to deploy their weapons of mass destruction unless the United States does it first.
During his public announcement, Putin made it clear that if the United States was going to conduct research and development into new nuclear weapons, Russian will simply respond in kind and do their own research and development. The United States had been accusing Russia of violating the treaty for years, claiming that the country has been developing cruise missiles with ranges that were clearly in violation of their agreement. Trump initially made their allegations public in October of last year and announced that the country may be withdrawing from the treaty.
Trump responded to the new developments by stating that the country will be working with NATO and its allies to try and prevent Russia from having any military advantage. He further stated that the United States will continue to explore its military response options. Exiting the treaty will likely launch a new arms race with Russia and the United States, potentially increasing the tension between both countries. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo defended the United States' exit and mentioned that the decision was only a response to Russia's brazen disregard of the agreement they had in the past.
