Andrew W. Reddie
Trust and Verify, 2018
In a discussion with journalists on 20 October 2018, US President Trump announced that the United States would seek to withdraw from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, blaming Russian violations of the treaty as the reason for the decision. Both countries allege the other has violated the treaty. However, US withdrawal from the treaty, combined with the lack of progress in extending New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty), which is designed to limit the number of strategic weapons in US and Russian arsenals, arguably represents the most severe crisis in nuclear arms control for several decades.