Daijiworld Media Network – Moscow

Moscow, Aug 5: Amid mounting pressure from US President Donald Trump to end the war in Ukraine, Russia on Monday declared it would no longer observe the moratorium linked to the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, effectively discarding its self-imposed ban on deploying short- and medium-range nuclear missiles.

Blaming "the actions of Western countries" for what it called a direct threat to national security, the Russian Foreign Ministry said the geopolitical landscape had changed and conditions for maintaining the Soviet-era moratorium had “disappeared.”

The announcement came just days after President Trump revealed he had ordered two nuclear submarines to be deployed to "the appropriate regions" near Russian waters, escalating tensions between the nuclear-armed adversaries.

“The West’s build-up of destabilising missile potentials creates a direct threat to our country’s security,” the Russian Foreign Ministry stated, according to RT.

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, now deputy chair of Russia’s Security Council, reinforced the message, blaming NATO’s “anti-Russian policies” for forcing Moscow’s hand. “This is a new reality all our opponents will have to reckon with. Expect further steps,” he posted on X (formerly Twitter), in a veiled warning of further escalations.

Medvedev and Trump have recently engaged in a series of fiery exchanges online, adding a personal edge to the already fraying diplomatic ties. Although Medvedev did not elaborate on what Russia’s “further steps” would entail, his tone signalled a hardening stance from Moscow.

The INF Treaty, signed by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and US President Ronald Reagan in 1987, eliminated an entire category of ground-launched nuclear and conventional missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers. The US formally withdrew from the treaty in 2019, citing Russian violations. In response, Moscow pledged not to deploy such weapons unless the US did so first.

However, recent developments—including what Russia sees as the deployment of US - made land-based medium- and short-range missiles in Europe and the Asia-Pacific—have triggered a shift in Moscow’s position. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had warned last year that continued US and NATO actions would force Russia to respond.

The Russian Foreign Ministry noted that with US deployment plans becoming a reality, the strategic conditions underpinning its earlier moratorium have collapsed.

President Trump, meanwhile, has defended his aggressive posture, stating last week that the movement of nuclear submarines was a response to Medvedev's remarks warning of a potential direct war between Russia and the U.S. The Pentagon has not confirmed the exact location of the submarines.

The unfolding situation has prompted concerns from international observers about the potential for renewed nuclear escalation in both Europe and the Asia-Pacific, at a time when diplomacy between the two powers is at its lowest ebb in decades.