Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has suggested resuming production of intermediate-range missiles that were banned under a now-defunct treaty with the United States. The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty banned the use of ground-based nuclear and conventional missiles with a range of between 500-5,500 kilometres. It was regarded as an arms control landmark when Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and US President Ronald Reagan signed it in 1988. But America withdrew from the pact in 2019, citing Russian violations. “We need to start production of these strike systems and then, based …