RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin has called for resuming production of intermediate-range missiles that were banned under the now-scrapped INF Treaty with the US. The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty, which banned ground-based missiles with a range of 500-5,500 kilometers (310-3,410 miles) was regarded as an arms control landmark when Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and US President Ronald Reagan signed it in 1988.

 

The United States withdrew from the treaty in 2019, citing Russian violations. “We need to start production of these strike systems and then, based on the actual situation, make decisions about where - if necessary to ensure our safety - to place them,” Putin said at a meeting of Russia’s national security council.