In a speech in Brussels this week, Kay Bailey Hutchison, the former Texas senator who’s now the U.S. ambassador to NATO, has threatened to “take out” a new class of Russian missiles. She says the missiles threaten both Europe and a landmark nuclear arms deal – 1987’s Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. That deal banned a whole category of nuclear weapons, specifically ground-launched missiles capable of striking targets at distances between 310 and 3,100 miles. The treaty was a breakthrough after years of work at denuclearization.
Michael Mosser, who specializes in international relations at the University of Texas at Austin says the Russian missiles are problematic, but Hutchison’s threat could also potentially delegitimize the treaty.
What you’ll hear in this segment:
– What weapons the U.S. is accusing Russia of deploying, and the evidence for that accusation
– How Russia has responded to Ambassador Hutchison’s threat
– How Hutchison’s threat could endanger the INF treaty and global arms control
Written by Brooke Vincent.
