Reactions And Commentaries On The End Of The INF Treaty

DW: Europeans aghast as end to INF treaty looms

EU leaders are concerned that the US withdrawal from the INF treaty could spark a new arms race. Can Russia and the US be convinced to resume talks?

The US has announced it will withdraw from the Cold War-era Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty on 2 August 2019, blaming Russia for violating the agreement. EU foreign ministers, meanwhile, are unsure how to react. Some fear the beginning of a new arms race, while others urge the US and Russia to do everything in their power to save the treaty. So far, however, no concrete steps have been taken towards this end.

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REACTIONS

From 'Bad News' to 'Full Support': How World Powers Reacted to INF's Collapse -- Sputnik
Germany’s Merkel Vows to Continue INF Nuclear Arms Talks -- Sputnik
NATO seeks constructive relationship with Russia despite US INF exit -- TASS
NATO is on Trump's side as Democrats attack him for pulling out of the nuke deal with Russia -- Business Insider
China calls on Washington, Moscow to preserve nuclear treaty -- AP
China opposes U.S. withdrawal from INF treaty: MOFA -- CGTN
China urges Russia, US to mediate differences on INF Treaty, says foreign ministry -- TASS
Russia starts developing land-based hypersonic missile with intermediate range, says Putin -- TASS
Russia set to develop new and advanced missile systems -- Jerusalem Post/Reuters
Trump vows to forge ‘military response options’ to Russia’s violation of INF accord -- TASS

COMMENTARIES

Welcome to the New Age of Nuclear Instability -- The New York Times
INF treaty withdrawal a disastrous gamble -- Max Hofmann, DW
Trump Just Scrapped a Nuclear Treaty That Kept Us Safe for Decades -- Heather Hurlburt, NYMag
Trump didn't kill the INF Treaty. Putin did -- Washington Examiner
The U.S. and Russia Are Sleepwalking Toward Nuclear Disaster -- Sam Nunn and Ernest J. Moniz, Politico
A new abnormal: It is still 2 minutes to midnight -- John Mecklin, Bulletin of Atomic Scientists
The INF Treaty Is Dead. Is New START Next? -- Robbie Gramer and Lara Seligman, Foreign Policy
What is the INF nuclear treaty? -- Chase Winter, DW

U.N. Treaty To Ban Nuclear Weapons Is Being Drafted

A U.S. Air Force missile maintenance team removes the upper section of an intercontinental ballistic missile with a nuclear warhead at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana. © Reuters

Voice Of America: UN Closing in on Treaty to Ban Nuclear Weapons

UNITED NATIONS — The president of the U.N. conference drafting what could be the first treaty to ban nuclear weapons expressed confidence Thursday that with “the necessary political will” more than 130 countries supporting the initiative can reach agreement by the July 7 target.

Elayne Whyte Gomez, Costa Rica’s ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva, told the opening of negotiations on a draft treaty circulated May 22 that delegates were representing their countries, but they were also “united together in historic commitment” to finalizing a treaty.

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WNU Editor: This treaty is not going to get anywhere .... none of the nuclear powers support it.

Delegates Take Key Step In Nuclear Treaty Review

UN General Assembly Hall Source: UN website (Photo from NTI)

From The AP:

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Delegates preparing for a major conference next year to review the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty have agreed on an agenda, and some said the change in President Barack Obama's tone and emphasis was a key factor.

Obama's pledge last month to reduce and eventually eliminate nuclear weapons — a major reversal from former President George W. Bush's policy — has spurred hope that it and new U.S.-Russian cooperation will end a long deadlock on global disarmament efforts.

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My Comment: I should have commented on this on Friday.

The U.N. delegates responsible for the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty may have agreed on an agenda .... but they are a long way from any form of implementation. The sad fact is that there are now many countries actively pursuing and/or examining the development and production of nuclear technologies .... technologies that can then be easily transferred to the production and development of nuclear weapons.

As to the idea of a nuclear free zone in the Middle East. Sigh .... not in my future grand children's lifetime.

Russia Agrees To Talks With The U.S. On Reducing Strategic Nuclear Weapons

Barack Obama has been hit by a series of set-back in his presidency
Photo: AP/The Telegraph

President Obama Seeks Russia Deal To
Slash Nuclear Weapons -- Times Online

President Obama will convene the most ambitious arms reduction talks with Russia for a generation, aiming to slash each country’s stockpile of nuclear weapons by 80 per cent.

The radical treaty would cut the number of nuclear warheads to 1,000 each, The Times has learnt. Key to the initiative is a review of the Bush Administration’s plan for a US missile defence shield in Eastern Europe, a project fiercely opposed by Moscow.

Mr Obama is to establish a non-proliferation office at the White House to oversee the talks, expected to be headed by Gary Samore, a non-proliferation negotiator in the Clinton Administration. The talks will be driven by Hillary Clinton’s State Department.

No final decision on the defence shield has been taken by Mr Obama. Yet merely delaying the placement of US missiles in Poland and a radar station in the Czech Republic — which if deployed would cost the US $4 billion annually — removes what has been a major impediment to Russian co-operation on arms reduction.

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More News On President Obama's Proposal
To Reduce Nuclear Weapons

Barack Obama 'set to open radical nuclear weapons talks with Russia' -- The Telegraph
Obama Wants New Russia Nuke Pact -- CBS News
Russia unclenches fist over nuclear weapons -- Times Online
U.S. eyes process of nuke reduction to ease up tension with Moscow -- China View
The nuclear debate is back on the launch pad -- The Telegraph
Obama seeking drastic nuclear arms reductions -- The National Post
Russia welcomes US nuclear pledge -- ABC News (Australia)
Russia welcomes Barack Obama call to cut nuclear weapons -- The Telegraph
Report: Obama to offer Russia deal to cut nuclear arms by 80% -- Haaretz
As Promised- Obama Will Reduce US Nuke Arsenal By 80% -- Gateway Pundit
Obama’s “World Without Nukes” Just Naive Or Dangerous Too. -- Hypocrisy.com
Gates and Chu--Will They Sink Obama's Nuclear Policy? -- New Republic
Eliminating the threat of nuclear arms -- E! Science News
Eliminating The Threat Of Nuclear Arms -- Science Daily