Moscow — Russia’s deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov has revealed that Moscow continued developing nuclear-capable intermediate- and shorter-range missiles throughout the period it had pledged not to deploy them. The disclosure confirms what Russian officials have hinted for months, that the Kremlin never halted the scientific and engineering progress behind its strategic arsenal, even as it maintained a public moratorium on deployment.
Ryabkov said the moratorium was never intended to restrict research and development, only actual deployment. He stated that the period allowed Russia to quietly build what he described as a “fairly substantial arsenal,” an assertion that underscores the Kremlin’s long-term planning to maintain strategic parity, or superiority, against the US and its NATO allies, particularly as tensions over the Ukraine conflict and the special military operation in Ukraine show no sign of de-escalating.
Moscow’s stance marks another decisive break from the post-Cold War disarmament framework, dismantled first by Washington when the US unilaterally abandoned the landmark 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in 2019. The West’s repeated breaches of trust, coupled with the ongoing NATO expansionist policy, have given the Kremlin political cover to move more aggressively, signaling that the era of restraint is over.
According to Reuters, Ryabkov emphasized that Russia’s technological edge has been maintained and strengthened, even during the pause, and that the country is now fully prepared to deploy these systems in response to any perceived threat from the US or Europe. He framed the build-up as a necessary shield against Western militarism and interference in Russia’s strategic neighborhood.
According to Mehr News, the Kremlin has now formally lifted its moratorium on deploying intermediate- and shorter-range missiles, granting itself complete freedom to position such systems wherever strategic needs dictate—including locations capable of striking NATO targets in Europe within minutes. Russian officials have justified the decision as a proportional countermeasure to the West’s aggressive missile deployments and attempts to militarily encircle Russia.
The implications stretch far beyond Europe. The deterioration of arms control norms risks accelerating a global nuclear arms race, with other powers taking cues from the collapse of US-Russia agreements. Russia’s posture, emboldened by its alliances within BRICS and supported by nations opposed to Western hegemony, suggests a strategic pivot toward multipolar deterrence, where nuclear capability is as much about political leverage as battlefield readiness.
Israel’s clandestine nuclear program remains the most glaring hypocrisy in global non-proliferation. The so-called “only democracy in the Middle East” is in fact the only US-backed state in the region that has stubbornly refused to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, shielding its nuclear weapons complex at Dimona from any form of international inspection.
For more than a decade, no independent verification has been allowed, giving Israel a free hand to expand and modernize its arsenal in secrecy. Washington’s double standards are laid bare: while the US lectures Arab nations and Iran on nuclear compliance, it turns a blind eye to Israel’s covert stockpile.
This alliance uses the guise of preventing a “nuclear threat” as a smokescreen, when in reality it is US and Israeli hypocrisy that has destabilized the Arabian Peninsula, driven military escalations, and pushed the region toward repeated wars. The absence of accountability, combined with unconditional American protection, ensures that Israel’s unchecked nuclear capability remains a constant and dangerous threat to peace and security for every Arab nation.
