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Washington / Moscow (Reuters) - The US abandons the nuclear INF disarmament treaty with Russia, sparking concerns over a new arms race between the superpowers.

In six months Russia will be informed of the formal withdrawal from the treaty, said US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday in Washington. Until then, the government in Moscow has time to return to the treaty. The NATO partners declared their full support for the US action. Russia has previously denied allegations that it did not comply with the agreement to limit nuclear-capable medium-range systems. In Berlin, Chancellor Angela Merkel called for the six-month period to be used, in order to come to an agreement.

Quote (ofthevoid @ Feb 2 2019 11:08am)

This is basically in response to Russia unveiling new nuke tech last march. Here's Putin's announcement with a neat little demo of the new missile. This didn't happen suddenly but was known to be a working progress for at least 7-10 years.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_uAiYgeOGI

A little background on this and Russia's perspective as I understand it. Essentially the reason why the Cold War didn't erupt into a full out actual war was because of the idea of mutually assured destruction. Both the USSR and the US in a way held each other in check because they understood that both superpowers have the means to completely wipe the other out. If one superpower tips the scale into its favour by having nukes that can't be stopped while being able to stop the other power then this nulls MAD. If MAD is nulled then the stronger power can essentially behave as it wants which is a net negative for the whole world.

For a while now the US angle was to create defensive missile shield tech such as THAAD's and placing them in various countries around Russia. Poland, Czech, Turkey, Romania, etc. If you're able to stop your adversaries missiles meanwhile the adversary isn't able to stop yours then you get the upper hand and MAD is gone. Russia felt that it was losing this MAD assurance so it started developing offensive weapons to circumvent the defensive US capabilities. Offensive weapons are much cheaper compared to systems like THAAD's and this is the reason Putin gave as the reason to why they started modernizing their nukes around 2010.

Only real winners here are the warmongers and weapon contractors on both sides. Best believe the war cabal in the US are licking their chops at these developments, business is about to be booming.

Quote (balrog66 @ Feb 2 2019 12:17pm)

Russia really seems hellbent on trying to stay relevant as a semi-world power. A losing battle. Let's just hope that they go out with a whimper instead of a bang. I understand their fears of being sandwiched inbetween the influence circles of the US/EU and China, but this is just going to run their economy into the ground. America has proven it can sustain massive military developments. Russia has tried before and lost massively, with the dissolution of the Soviet Union as a result. China is a prospect but so far has only projected regional influence. Africa might be their new playing ground.

Quote (ofthevoid @ Feb 2 2019 02:14pm)

I’ve been hearing for years on here that Russia’s economy is months away from collapsing and here we are.

There’s stats and thinking you know something of a country or a people from news or gdp per capita or other such metrics and then you go to some of these places and have your eyes opened. I’m coming back from Eastern Europe right now, from one of the poorest counties in Europe and you wouldn’t believe the amount of luxury cars and other forms of visible wealth i’ve seen in a very poor country.

Russians have a strong tolerance for suffering and corruption. Tbh in the eyes of the average Russian pleb Putin looks like the hero right now and the US move to withdraw reinforces what he’s been saying for years.

Quote (dro94 @ Feb 2 2019 12:39pm)

Mutually assured destruction is a Nash equilibrium and the 2nd best alternative to no nukes existing, but Russia can't compete with the US anyway. Only China or India will be able to in the long run.



100% agree. The Russian economy is smaller than South Korea's, they can't afford to be a world military power. If that money was put into bettering the lives of the Russian people, who have a very low life expectancy compared to the developed world and many of which live in abject poverty, then maybe they could compete in the long term. After all, hey have the population, resources and land to do it.

Quote (ofthevoid @ Feb 2 2019 02:14pm)

I’ve been hearing for years on here that Russia’s economy is months away from collapsing and here we are.

There’s stats and thinking you know something of a country or a people from news or gdp per capita or other such metrics and then you go to some of these places and have your eyes opened. I’m coming back from Eastern Europe right now, from one of the poorest counties in Europe and you wouldn’t believe the amount of luxury cars and other forms of visible wealth i’ve seen in a very poor country.

Russians have a strong tolerance for suffering and corruption. Tbh in the eyes of the average Russian pleb Putin looks like the hero right now and the US move to withdraw reinforces what he’s been saying for years.