Russia Issues Nuclear Warning Directed at US and NATO

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Russia said Monday it is no longer bound by a self‑imposed moratorium on deploying land‑based intermediate‑range nuclear missiles, blaming United States and NATO plans to station similar weapons in Europe and the Asia‑Pacific. Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment via email on Monday. The U.S. and Russia signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty (INF) in 1987, but the U.S. withdrew from it in 2019, during President Donald Trump's first term, while accusing Russia of repeatedly violating the agreement.

Moscow signaled that it, too, would withdraw from the agreement last December, with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov telling the state news agency Ria Novosti that the agreement was no longer viable while accusing the U.S. of deploying the weapons globally. Later Monday, Russian former President Dmitry Medvedev blamed NATO countries for the abandonment of a moratorium on short- and medium-range nuclear missiles and said Moscow would take further steps in response.

"The Russian Foreign Ministry's statement on the withdrawal of the moratorium on the deployment of medium- and short-range missiles is the result of NATO countries' anti-Russian policy," Medvedev posted in English on X. "This is a new reality all our opponents will have to reckon with. Expect further steps." Tensions between Washington and Moscow have reached a boiling point in recent months, particularly related to the Trump administration's efforts to negotiate a ceasefire in Russia's war against neighbouring Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia. Associated Press What To Know The Russian Foreign Ministry accused Washington of escalating tensions by testing, producing and moving systems once banned under the defunct Intermediate‑Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. Moscow said the deployments, including recent U.S. missile activity in Denmark, the Philippines and Australia, pose a "direct threat" to Russian security. The Kremlin warned it will take "military‑technical" steps in response to restore what it calls a strategic balance.