Trump’s Withdrawal From Nuclear Treaty Hurts U.S. Allies
Germany has more to lose than Russia from Trump’s move.
Photographer: Corbis via Getty Images
President Donald Trump’s decision to ditch the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty with Russia has clear advantages for both Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. It is, however, a problem for countries in the middle — and for what remains of a treaty-based global order.
Columbia University professor Stephen Sestanovich, who served as senior director for policy development at the U.S. National Security Council from 1984 to 1987, the year the INF treaty was signed, describes the deal as “the most one-sidedly good arms-control agreement any U.S. President has ever signed.” It eliminated 1,752 Soviet missiles, including all the feared SS-20s aimed at the European allies of the U.S., along with 859 less powerful U.S. missiles deployed in Europe to counter the threat.