Statement: Pax Christi USA Denounces US and Russian Withdrawal from Nuclear Weapons Treaty

From Pax Christi USA:

One day after the United States withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, Russia followed suit. Pax Christi USA believes neither the United States nor Russia should withdraw from any treaties which limit the number of nuclear weapons possessed by any nations. In particular, we note that since 1987 the INF Treaty kept both the United States and the then USSR, now Russia, from developing and deploying certain intermediate range nuclear weapons.

Substantive progress on nuclear disarmament concerns all countries. Accordingly, in 2017, the United Nations General Assembly approved the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, and that same year, Pope Francis unequivocally condemned possession of nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons are immoral, and any government which moves to develop a nuclear arsenal or add to its existing nuclear arsenal should be condemned.

A global majority of states are providing leadership for the elimination of nuclear weapons, yet the U.S. and other powers are modernizing their nuclear arsenals instead. Abandoning the INF will intensify this already alarming trend.

Therefore, Pax Christi USA urges the U.S. and Russia to return to the treaty and to begin new arms reduction negotiations as soon as possible.