Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty) Under Threat, says International Luxembourg Forum

MOSCOW, December 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Thirty years ago, on December 8, 1987, in Washington D. C., Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty) for an indefinite time, which came into effect on June 1, 1988. Today, this Treaty continues to inspire intense debate for multiple reasons, even more so than at the time of its signing. Some believed that it was a step verging on betraying their state interests, while others proposed to terminate it immediately.

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Three years later, the terms and conditions of the Treaty were fulfilled. The USSR eliminated 1,846 missile systems, including mobile launchers Pioneer equipped with intermediate-range ballistic missiles capable of multiple independently targeted reentry vehicles, intermediate-range ballistic missiles R-12 and R-14, cruise missiles RK-55 and theatre ballistic missiles Temp-S and Oka. The United States eliminated 846 missile systems equipped with the Pershing II ballistic missiles, the Tomahawk cruise missiles and the Pershing I-A short-range ballistic missiles.

The Luxembourg Forum President Viatcheslav Moshe Kantor commented: 

"Today, the INF Treaty is under threat because of the U.S.-Russia mutual accusations of non-compliance and claims regarding its implementation. Since signing the New START in 2010, the dialogue on the control over strategic weapons has been in deadlock. Washington and Moscow should immediately start a new dialogue on nuclear issues in order to reinstate the principle of diminishing the role of nuclear weapons and related risks in the global security policy. In the framework of this dialogue, it is vital that the differences regarding compliance with the INF Treaty be settled and full implementation of this key Treaty be ensured, among other things."

The International Luxembourg Forum on Preventing Nuclear Catastrophe was established pursuant to a resolution of the International Conference on Preventing Nuclear Catastrophe, held in Luxembourg on May 24-25, 2007. The Forum's Advisory Council includes 49 most reputable and world-renowned experts from 14 countries. 

The Forum is one of the most representative non-governmental organizations uniting leading world experts on non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, arms reduction and limitation. The Forum is headed by its President, Viatcheslav Moshe Kantor. The principal guiding bodies of the Forum are the International Advisory Council and the Supervisory Board. 

The Forum's objectives are analyzing threats imposed by nuclear arms proliferation and elaborating practical proposals and recommendations on the ways to further reduce nuclear arms, strengthen nuclear and missile non-proliferation regime, counteract acquisition of nuclear weapons and technologies by unstable regimes and terrorist organizations, and resolve the local nuclear crises.