Questions about the future of bilateral nuclear deals between the US and Russia continue to grow, as both nations once again traded accusations that the other had violated existing deals, following a meeting in Geneva on the matter.



US officials once again declared Russia to be “in material breach” of the Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, based on the theoretical range of a Russian missile. Russia has denied the missile has a long enough range to be covered by INF, and has never tested it at such ranges.



Russia fired back, saying that the US compliance with New START has problems, and that the US has refused to allow Russia to verify the conversion of some B-52H bombers and Trident II ballistic missile launchers for conventional weapons use.



In both cases, the US and Russia aren’t eager to offer one another the level of access needed to verify compliance with the letter of these treaties. Since this mistrust seems to be getting worse, not better, attempts to negotiate an extension of New START, or any other nuclear deals, will be in a serious doubt.





Author: Jason Ditz Jason Ditz is news editor of Antiwar.com. View all posts by Jason Ditz