INF Treaty Is Officially Dead.

When even Foreign Policy magazine feels the pinch: 

Withdrawing from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty would take the United States one step forward and many steps back on international security.

One has to consider that not everybody completely lost their marbles in D.C. but, as I stated not for once, by now it doesn't really matter because after the US officially informed Russia about quitting the Treaty, Russians responded in kind and immediately after that proceeded with what largely was in place already.  

MOSCOW, February 2. /TASS/. The Russian government will allocate required funds for research and technological development (R&D) and for the development of new weapons following the United States’ withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF treaty), Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev wrote on Twitter on Saturday.

What those R&D and actions could be? Very simple and expected--Russia will leverage her massive lead in both missile and anti-missile technology. As Putin termed it, Russia will start with "grounding" of 3M14 of Kalibr family cruise missiles, that is deploying them on the ground launchers, and then, surprise, surprise (not really)--development of ground-based hyper-sonic intermediate range missiles, while simultaneously deploying anti-air-missile complexes capable of dealing with exactly types of missiles the US has in mind. 

From the historic perspective Putin is being anti-Gorbachev in a most profound way. This all is not an accident, it is all part of largely healthy process of Russians reassessing their historic experience since 1980s, not least of which is the revision of the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 and inevitable facing of the same ol' problem Russia will have to face in the nearest future with Taliban and ISIS having plans for Russia's soft Middle Asia underbelly. Expect charges leveled at Gorbachev for withdrawal in 1989 and Yeltsin for betraying Najibulla government in Kabul in 1991. These are the charges I leveled at these, one dead another still living, lowlifes non-stop for years. One cannot escape geopolitical fate. So, it is official and maybe it is all for the good. Let Europe, meanwhile, deal with this new reality.