This decision Putin is sure to regret
By violating the INF Treaty on intermediate-range nuclear forces, from which the United States withdrew in 2019, Putin has opened the door to escalation.
Jeffrey Lewis, nuclear proliferation expert and professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California, proclaimed on X: "I have long said that the Russians will regret Vladimir Putin's violation of the 1987 INF Treaty. It has opened the door for significant deployment of accurate long-range conventional missiles in Germany and elsewhere."
Although these missiles are not nuclear and are merely a response to Russia's brutal and expansionist behavior, there is a real risk of escalation. The director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists, Hans Moller Kristensen, warns, "There is an element of autopilot in this dynamic, as both sides use the other's actions to justify more and more measures to strengthen their military capabilities."
Since the United States recently announced the deployment of long-range missiles to Germany, retaliation from the Russian side is likely to come with long-range missiles aimed at Europe.
(SR and Manon Pierre for Tagtik/Source: Korii/Illustration: Unsplash)
