Both countries had signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty in 1987, which outlawed all missiles with a range of 500 to 5,500 kilometres. The treaty was one of the laudable legacies of former Soviet leader, Mikail Gorbachev, and Ronald Reagan of the US. The Russian Minister of Defence, Sergei Shoigu, said the weapon had shown good results in the Syrian Civil War. After World War II in 1945, the US and Russia continued to flex muscles in covert forms – the Cold War. It was an age of unrestrained acquisition of nuclear weapons, waging of proxy wars in regions around the world, espionage, propaganda and even unhealthy rivalry in sporting activities.

Source: Punch February 19, 2019 23:03 UTC