Why is the United States keen to withdraw from the INF treaty? The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty was signed by the United States and the USSR in 1987. In May this year, the US administration approved a military budget which proposes an annual embargo on the INF treaty. The big question is, what is urging the US to pull out of the decades-old old Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty?

Security Concerns or Nuclear Ambitions?

The US feels that holding on to the INF treaty puts it in a spot of bother amid security concerns. In March 2018 the US stated that it might place nuclear cruise missiles on ships and low yield explosives on Submarines. Then later in April, the US expressed concerns about advantages to China for not being a signatory to the INF treaty. The United States feels that after withdrawing from the INF treaty it would be able to confront China’s destructive powers in the Indo-Pacific region.

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On May 10 a committee on Armed Services of the U.S Congress moved to quash the INF treaty. This move was basically aimed at making Russia observe the treaty after a prolonged ignorance. The annulation will also give the US the leverage of developing new weapons to challenge the threats nurtured by China.

Besides making a smart move to get Russia comply with the treaty, the move to pull back from the INF treaty can also be seen as US’s aspirations to develop new weapon systems. The INF treaty is as good as perished but the US aims to take the maximum leverage out of it before it is done and dusted officially. The anti-missile defence of the United States is developing aggressively. The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty stands as a hurdle in the nuclear ambitions of the US, hence Washington is keen to withdraw from the 1987 Treaty.