Russia ends missile deployment ban

Russia no longer considers itself bound by its unilateral moratorium on the deployment of intermediate and shorter-range nuclear-capable missiles, clearing the way for Moscow to deploy the weapons across Europe and Asia. Russia had voluntarily imposed the moratorium following the US withdrawal from the two nations’ Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty in 2019 over alleged Russian breaches and concerns about China’s missile capabilities.

Moscow had signaled the move in October, when it refused to commit to an extension of its New START nuclear arms treaty with Washington, scheduled to expire in February 2026. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov repeated Sunday that there were currently “no conditions” for a strategic dialogue with the US.

Russia had already suspended its participation in New START in 2023 over US aid to Ukraine and in November 2024 fired an intermediate-range hypersonic ballistic missile known as “Oreshnik” at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro in response to strikes on its territory by Ukrainian forces with US and British missiles – an act Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened last week to repeat. With components of the Oreshnik allegedly reliant on Western technology, however, Russia faces potential hurdles in this latest chapter in the post-Cold War arms race.