NEW YORK, October 25 (RIA Novosti) - Russia and the United States have called on all countries to join the bilateral Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, the two countries said Thursday in a joint statement at the UN.
The former Soviet Union and the U.S. signed the INF Treaty on December 8, 1987. The agreement came into force in June 1988 and does not have a specific duration.
Moscow and Washington said in the statement they were both concerned by the rapid expansion of intermediate-range ballistic missiles round the world as more and more countries obtain the technology for their production.
The two countries called on other states to consider giving this important non-proliferation pact a global status as a method of increasing international stability and security.
Two weeks ago Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia could pull out of the U.S.-Russian arms reductions treaty, unless it was expanded to impose restrictions on other countries as well.
The INF treaty banned nuclear and conventional ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges of 500 to 5,500 kilometers (300 to 3,400 miles). By the treaty's deadline of June 1, 1991, a total of 2,692 weapons had been destroyed, 846 by the U.S. and 1,846 by the Soviet Union.
The treaty strongly favored the U.S., as many treaty provisions, such as counting Soviet RSD-10 Pioneer (NATO reporting name SS-20) multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRV) missiles as equivalent to single-warhead Pershing II systems, allowed NATO to regain strategic nuclear superiority over Russia in Europe.
