Friend or Foe?

On February 1st, after claiming that Russia had been violating the treaty for years, the United States decided to withdraw from the INF (Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty), and Russia shortly followed, withdrawing from the treaty the next day. Both countries withdrew from the long-acting treaty and that was that. But, when Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered his annual address on February 20th, he sent a blunt message to the United States. Putin warned that he was ready for another "Cuban Missile Crisis" if the U.S. doesn't refrain from putting new intermediate-range missiles in Europe. This message was completely unexpected, and was very different from what Trump and Putin's relationship has been described to be. Instead of being "best buds" and Trump being a "Russian secret agent", Putin just put the United States into check. President Putin said that "Russia will be forced to create and deploy new types of weapons that could be used not only against the territories where a direct threat to us comes from, but also against the territories where decision-making centers directing the use of missile systems threatening us are located.”.  This event clearly describes the current state of the relationship between Russia and the United States, two superpowers grappling for power.

https://www.foxnews.com/world/putin-says-russia-welcomes-another-cuban-missile-crisis-level-confrontation-with-the-us

https://www.vox.com/2019/2/20/18233158/putin-speech-missile-europe-inf

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