... national security of the Russian Federation” because, among other things, “Russia, like the U.S. and unlike other nuclear powers, has long possessed effective anti-missile defence penetration aids.”
Besides, at the outset, the dissolution of the ABM Treaty had little effect on U.S.–Russia cooperation in this mutually sensitive area. U.S.–Russia–NATO Theater Missile Defence (TMD) exercises continued until 2008 [
2
], while the parties never intended to abandon plans to expand cooperation (for instance, on the Data Exchange Center)....
... capability vis-à-vis America. The nuclear arms race is already on. This is not a game of numbers of weapons but rather of their capabilities. President Putin, in his 2018 annual address to the Federal Assembly, laid out what measures had been taken by Russia in response to the 2002 U.S. withdrawal from the ABM Treaty. Further modernization efforts will continue on both sides.
Strategic decisions by either party that change force postures can lead to changes to the other party’s doctrines. The U.S. withdrawal in 2019 from the INF Treaty has opened the ...
... to say that, as a matter of principle, we are on the threshold of destroying the treaty system? Can the expired agreements (ABM Treaty, the CFE Treaty, the INF Treaty) be followed by the endangered START and TOS and then by the CTBT, Non-Proliferation ... ... correct. If the central link falls apart… there are already attempts to undermine the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty; Russia is already being accused of secretly conducting some tests.
The Non-Proliferation Treaty… If this system collapses, its ...
... Russia — and I hope that all the right decisions will be made in Moscow — to resist the temptation to go beyond the limitations of the INF. The right position, in my view, would be to state officially that until the US deploys new systems in Europe, Russia would also refrain from such action. I should remind you, since I mentioned the ABM Treaty earlier, that although the US left ABM, its actions actually stayed within the limitations of the treaty because the US was unable to produce a reliable national missile defence system. The US withdrawal from ABM was more of a political gesture ...
... arms control developed as a sum-total of supplementary elements rather than an eclectic set of separate unrelated bilateral or multilateral agreements.
The first serious blow was dealt to this system when the United States withdrew from the Soviet-US ABM Treaty in 2002. However, the system withstood the first blow largely owing to the then general positive dynamics of Russia-US political cooperation. Meanwhile, judging by everything, the collapse of the INF Treaty 17 years later may prove fatal to the system because it coincided with a highly acute political crisis in relations between Moscow and Washington.
Greg Thielmann:
...
... bilateral relations and international stability. All the main documents on strategic weapons were “tied” to it in one way or another. Its destruction is generally seen as the beginning of a new stage in U.S. foreign policy, one that does not take Russia’s legitimate interests into account.
Could the ABM Treaty have been saved?
Of course! President Putin made preserving the ABM Treaty a central issue literally every time he met with President Bush (and they met regularly back then). I took part in most of those meetings, so you can believe me when ...
... States from the Treaty was not approved of by its main allies either. Within the US, many politicians and experts voiced their concerns about the consequences of withdrawing from the Treaty. Everything was in vain: Washington ignored the opinion of Russia, the global community and the domestic opposition and resolutely demolished the ABM Treaty.
Andrey Kortunov:
U.S. Withdrawal From the INF Treaty and the End of the Bilateral Era
Today, many years later, we can confidently state that the withdrawal from the Treaty failed to strengthen the security of the United States and did not ...
Despite the belligerent nuclear statements by Russia and the U.S., the configuration of a possible future for the international arms control regimes can be seen beyond the veil of rhetoric.
Despite the belligerent nuclear statements by Russia and the U.S. in the first quarter of 2018, the configuration ...
... rejected Washington’s proposal that the two countries jointly withdraw from the ABM Treaty, the United States used the relevant article to withdraw unilaterally. In December 2001, the United States announced its withdrawal from the Treaty, giving Russia six months notice. The ABM Treaty was then terminated in 2002.
At the same time, the United States stepped up its efforts to create its own global missile defense system and announced that it would deploy elements of this system in Europe. Representatives of several U.S. administrations ...
... a new treaty, given the massive disagreements over the missile defense systems (after the United States pulled out from the ABM Treaty in 2002) and over long-range precision-guided conventional weapons. Meanwhile the new U.S. administration has not demonstrated ... ... particular interest in either concluding a new START Treaty or in prolonging the existing one until 2026.
The United States and Russia are on the verge of a new large-scale arms race. Unlike during the Cold War period, however, this nuclear arms race will ...
