INF Treaty: Eliminating an Entire Class of Nuclear Weapons
On December 8, 1987, President Reagan and General Secretary Gorbachev signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty in Washington, D.C., the first arms control agreement in history to eliminate an entire class of nuclear weapons rather than merely cap their numbers. The treaty required both sides to destroy all ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometres — a total of 2,692 missiles. Intrusive on-site verification was required, marking another first in arms control. The INF Treaty was the fruit of a remarkable diplomatic relationship between Reagan and Gorbachev that had developed through summit meetings at Geneva (1985) and Reykjavik (1986). The Reykjavik summit had come astonishingly close to agreement on eliminating all nuclear weapons before collapsing over SDI; the INF Treaty represented a more limited but still historic achievement. For Reagan, it vindicated his 'zero option' proposal of 1981, which Soviet negotiators had dismissed as a propaganda ploy; for Gorbachev, it freed resources for economic reform and signalled to the West that the USSR was a genuine partner in reducing nuclear risks. The treaty was a landmark of the Cold War's final phase and pointed toward the comprehensive START agreements that followed.
- Year: 1987 CE
- Category: Diplomatic
