- US recently decided to withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) agreement, signed between US and Russia in 1987, as US believes that Russia has violated the treaty by discreetly developing missiles.
- Following US withdrawal, now, Russia has reciprocated that it would develop two new missile systems in the next two years i.e. (a) a land-based version of the seaborne ‘Kalibr’ system equipped with a long-range cruise missile and (b) a land-based missile system with a long-range hypersonic missile.
- (INF) Treaty required US and Russia to eliminate their nuclear and conventional ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges of 500 to 5,500 kilometers, to ensure stability and security to European continent.
