The Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty
The INF Treaty
signed on December 8, 1987, had two distinguishing characteristics. Fist, it
focused on – and banned – all ground-launched ballistic and cruise
missiles with intermediate-range (those with ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers).
Prior to that time, most of the focus of arms control negotiations had been
on capping sea- air- or land-based delivery systems with intercontinental range
capability (between 5,500 and 9,000 kilometers), and defense systems to shield
against attacks. Second, and perhaps more important, the INF Treaty provided
a singular contribution to the long process of arms control agreements because
it established an unprecedented level if intrusiveness and openness in its inspection
regime, laying the groundwork for the even more detailed inspection regime in
START 1 (1991) that carries over to the START II and the Moscow agreements signed
subsequently.
Under the INF Treaty, which came into force for an unlimited duration on June
1, 1988, the United States and the Soviet Union agreed to destroy a total of
2,629 missiles – a task that eliminated an entire class of weapon systems,
and one that was completed by June 1, 1991.
After the breakup of the Soviet Union in December 1991, the number of signatories
to the INF Treaty expanded to include the current active participants in the
agreement’s implementation, Russia (responsible for all treaties and agreements
signed by the Soviet Union), Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine. Turkmenistan
and Uzbekistan are also parties to the agreement but do not participate in treaty
meetings or on-site inspections.