Russian Arms Treaty Still Worth It

By Kingston Reif

Keith Payne and Mark Schneider write that Russia is a serial violator of arms control treaties and the Obama administration has been uniquely weak in calling out Russia’s bad behavior (“Russia Always Cheats on Arms Treaties,” op-ed, Aug. 19). The authors are right that Russia’s violation of the 1988 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty isn’t a trivial matter. The U.S. and its allies should continue to publicly hound Russia and consider steps to make Moscow pay a price for its wrongdoing.

However, Messrs. Payne and Schneider are wrong that the Obama administration doesn’t take compliance issues seriously. For example, under President Obama the State Department has submitted five arms-control compliance reports to Congress that have raised concerns about Russia’s implementation of a number of treaties. By contrast the previous administration only produced two compliance reports.

Click here to read the rest of the letter on the Wall Street Journal’s website.