Russia to Lift Ban on Nuclear Missile Deployment: Lavrov

Russia will abandon a nuclear arms treaty with the U.S. banning the deployment of short- and intermediate-range nuclear missiles, Moscow’s foreign minister said. “Today, it is obvious that, for example, our moratorium on the deployment of INF [Intermediate Range Nuclear] missiles is practically no longer viable and will have to be abandoned,” Russia’s long-time foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, told Russian state news agency RIA Novosti. Why It Matters Lavrov’s comments, which aren’t surprising, put a more formal end to a Cold War-era arms control agreement at a moment when Russia is accused of nuclear sabre-rattling and the U.S. looks on…