Vladimir Putin Proposes NATO/Russia Agreement

President Vladimir Putin of Russia said he would be willing to have NATO inspect Russia’s military bases for nuclear weapons, provided Russia could also inspect the U.S.’ (photo courtesy AP News).

On Oct. 26, Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed that NATO (North Atlantic Trade Organization) and Russia should conduct mutual inspections of each other’s military bases to secure a pause on the movement of missiles into Europe. This would allow the U.S. and NATO allies to conduct on-site inspections to make sure that weapons previously banned by INF (Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty) were not active.

Russia has been a major military power in the world for decades. Over the years the U.S. and Russia have been on opposing sides of wars and constantly in-and-out of treaties. Now with this proposed inspection the amount of nuclear warheads owned by Russia can be tracked, which could reduce nuclear conflict over a false launch alert.