US and Russia Risk a Nuclear Crisis

October 23, 2018

Published in El Mundo
(Spain) on 22 October 2018
by Editorial (link to original link to original)

Translated from by Matthew Gittings. Edited by Elizabeth Cosgriff.

Donald Trump has revived a reckless shift in U.S. foreign policy by announcing its withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty that Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev signed in 1987. The agreement authorized the destruction of thousands of ballistic and cruise missiles with a range of up to 5,500 kilometers (3,418 miles) and prohibited their manufacture. Now, Trump accuses Putin’s Russia of not complying with the terms of the treaty and has triggered a crisis that could culminate in an arms race. All eyes are on China, which has spent years building its army up into one of the most powerful in the world. International diplomacy and treaties are always preferable to belligerent threats. Even more so if those threats are on a nuclear scale.

EEUU-Rusia: riesgo de crisis nuclear

Donald Trump ha vuelto a dar un temerario giro a la política exterior de EEUU al anunciar su retirada del Tratado sobre Fuerzas Nucleares de Alcance Intermedio que firmaron en 1987 Ronald Reagan y Mijail Gorbachov. El acuerdo permitió la destrucción de miles de misiles balísticos terrestres y misiles de crucero con un radio de acción de hasta 5.500 km y prohibió su fabricación. Trump acusa a la Rusia de Putin de incumplir los términos de lo pactado y abre una crisis que podría desembocar en una carrera armamentística, con los ojos puestos en China, que lleva años ampliando su Ejército para convertirlo en el más potente del mundo. La diplomacia y los tratados internacionales son siempre preferibles al desafío bélico. Más aún, si éste es nuclear.

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