Growing Distrust between Russia and the West is Cause of Fear of Nuclear Weapons

Distrust between Russia and the West is on the increase, and its direct impact is going to be on the nuclear weapon build-up and its possible misuse, news reports on Wednesday suggest.

According to news reports, fears have been expressed on Wednesday by Russia Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, who accused the United States of stoking conflicts across the world and overlooking key Cold War arms control treaties. The U.S. on the other hand, blames Russia for collapse of agreements such as the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. General Gerasimov said Russia, in response to the U.S., would develop ties with China, India, Iran, North Korea and Venezuela, according to news reports.

"Without trust, it is impossible to create an effective mechanism for mutual control," news reports have quoted General Gerasimov as saying. "Many countries have begun to think about adequate response measures."