Russia will no longer abide by its self-imposed ban on deploying intermediate-range missiles, the country’s foreign ministry announced Monday.
Moscow had remained committed to following the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty after President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the agreement in 2019 during his first term, but the ministry’s announcement means Russia will no longer operate under the rules of the agreement either.
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“The Ministry is authorized to declare that the Russian Federation no longer considers itself bound by the relevant previously adopted self-restrictions,” a statement from the foreign ministry reads.
The 1987 pact banned ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with a range between roughly 300 and 3,400 miles. The agreement was seen as a breakthrough in the Cold War and led to the elimination of more than 2,600 Soviet and U.S. missiles. Both the Obama and first Trump administrations accused Russia of violating the terms of the treaty, which it denied.
The ministry referenced recent U.S. training exercises in Europe and the Asia-Pacific regions, as well as the deployment of weapons closer to Russia’s borders, arguing that they were provocative measures.
“Significant numbers of the US weapons of these types have already been deployed and continue to be stationed in many countries around the world, adding in multiple cases to the arsenals of US allies and partners, including Ukraine, which is employing these systems in its warfare against the Russian Federation,” the foreign ministry’s statement continues.
The announcement comes days after Trump said he ordered the repositioning of two U.S. nuclear submarines following what he described as “highly provocative statements” from Dmitry Medvedev, who was the Russian president from 2008 to 2012.
Medvedev said the withdrawal from the treaty “is the result of NATO countries’ anti-Russian policy” and added that “this is a new reality all our opponents will have to reckon with. Expect further steps,” though Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last week that Medvedev is not a particularly “relevant player in Russian politics.”
The foreign ministry did not specify what moves the Kremlin would make now that it is no longer abiding by the treaty, though Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously announced Moscow’s intent to deploy its new Oreshnik missiles to Belarus later this year.
“Decisions on specific parameters of response measures will be made by the leadership of the Russian Federation based on an interdepartmental analysis of the scale of deployment of American and other Western land-based intermediate-range missiles, as well as the development of the overall situation in the area of international security and strategic stability,” according to the Foreign Ministry.
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Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia “no longer has any limitations, Russia no longer considers itself to be constrained by anything,” and he added, “Therefore, Russia believes it has the right to take respective steps if necessary.”
This all comes days before Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, is set to visit Russia to try to negotiate an end to the Russia-Ukraine war. Despite the Trump administration’s overtures to Russia, Moscow has refused to meaningfully come to the negotiating table to hash out a settlement to end the conflict.