Russia Signals No Rush to End Ukraine War
Moscow has signaled it is in no rush to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine and has set no deadlines for a potential peace deal. Concurrently, new images from Ukraine reportedly confirm Russia's use of a missile type that was central to the collapse of a key nuclear arms treaty, raising international alarm.
The missile identified in recent attacks is the 9M729, known to NATO as the SSC-8 Screwdriver. This ground-launched cruise missile was the primary reason for the 2019 collapse of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, a cornerstone of Cold War-era arms control. The United States withdrew from the pact, accusing Russia of developing and deploying the missile in violation of its range limits. Signed in 1987 by Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, the INF treaty banned all ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers (about 310 to 3,420 miles). The agreement resulted in the destruction of nearly 2,700 missiles from both the U.S. and Soviet arsenals by 1991. U.S. officials first raised concerns about Russian noncompliance as early as 2013. Ukrainian officials state that Russia has launched the 9M729 missile dozens of times since August 2025, with some uses recorded as far back as 2022. One of the missiles fired reportedly traveled more than 1,200 kilometers before striking a target in Ukraine, well beyond the 500-kilometer limit set by the now-defunct treaty. Russia has also deployed another new intermediate-range ballistic missile, the "Oreshnik," for the first time in the conflict. Peace negotiations have been sporadic since the war's outset in February 2022, with early rounds of talks held in Belarus and Turkey. More recent U.S.-mediated talks in Geneva have been inconclusive, with Moscow accused of stalling and derailing the process with timely but unsubstantiated claims of Ukrainian aggression. Russia's core demands for a peace settlement have remained consistent, including Ukraine's neutrality and refusal to join NATO, recognition of Russian sovereignty over occupied territories, and the lifting of all international sanctions. Meanwhile, Ukraine seeks a full withdrawal of Russian troops and the prosecution of Russian leaders for war crimes. The conflict is now in its fourth year, with Russia intensifying its aerial assaults on Ukrainian infrastructure. In recent months, Ukraine has endured thousands of drone and missile attacks, including a record 91 ballistic missiles in one month, often targeting the energy grid during the coldest winter of the war.
