Russia- US Relations: Mikhail Gorbachev: A New Nuclear Arms Race Has Begun - "or is something "rotten in Denmark" and are Trump and Putin trying to break up the EU?" - by Michael Gorbachev

Over 30 years ago, President Ronald Reagan and I signed in Washington the United States-Soviet Treaty on the elimination of intermediate- and shorter-range missiles. For the first time in history, two classes of nuclear weapons were to be eliminated and destroyed.

This was a first step. It was followed in 1991 by the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which the Soviet Union signed with President George H.W. Bush, our agreement on radical cuts in tactical nuclear arms, and the New Start Treaty, signed by the presidents of Russia and the United States in 2010.

There are still too many nuclear weapons in the world, but the American and Russian arsenals are now a fraction of what they were during the Cold War. At the Nuclear Nonproliferation Review Conference in 2015, Russia and the United States reported to the international community that 85 percent of those arsenals had been decommissioned and, for the most part, destroyed.

Today, this tremendous accomplishment, of which our two nations can be rightfully proud, is in jeopardy. President Trump announced last week the United States’ plan to withdraw from the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty and his country’s intention to build up nuclear arms.

Note EU-Digest: Yes indeed Mr. Gorbachev is right when he writes in his op-ed for the NY-Times, that " he is convinced that those who hope to benefit from a global free-for-all are deeply mistaken. There will be no winner in a “war of all against all” — particularly if it ends in a nuclear war. And that is a possibility that cannot be ruled out. An unrelenting arms race, international tensions, hostility and universal mistrust will only increase the risk", 

But doesn't this statement, made by the US President, that he is planning to get out of the United States-Soviet Treaty on the elimination of intermediate-and shorter-range missiles, includes more than just what meets the naked eye? 

Couldn't it also be an indication for Europe, that the US, by giving up this treaty, which mainly concerns intermediate and shorter-range missiles, also means an immediate danger to the EU, and that it once again shows the Trump Administration's total disdain with, and disrespect for the EU?

The EU Commission, EU Parliament and EU Member States better wake up to the fact that there is something "Rotten in Denmark", when it comes to this recent announcement by Donald Trump

It  could very well be that during the two hour Helsinki meeting between Putin and Trump, earlier in the year, a scenario and strategy was also discussed to dismantle the EU. After all, there were no details given about the topics discussed, following the meeting of the two world leaders.

The announcement by the Trump Administration to get out of the United States-Soviet Treaty on the elimination of intermediate- and shorter-range missiles, could therefore, possibly, also be seen as the implementation of a strategy discussed at the Helsinki meeting between the Russian and US leaders. 

Bottom-line - the EU better adhere to the saying:  "Forewarned is fore armed" , and not fall asleep on this issue. 

.  Read more: Opinion | Mikhail Gorbachev: A New Nuclear Arms Race Has Begun - The New York Times