Yes, Both Russia and the United States Have Withdrawn from the INF Treaty — It Collapsed in 2019

The claim is accurate and well-documented. The INF Treaty, signed by Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev in 1987, banned ground-launched missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers. It was one of the most significant arms control agreements of the 20th century. As of August 2, 2019, it no longer exists.

The U.S. Department of State confirmed that Washington formally withdrew on August 2, 2019, after giving the required six-month notice in February of that year. The core U.S. accusation was that Russia's 9M729 cruise missile — known in NATO circles as the SSC-8 — fell squarely within the range the treaty prohibited. Russia denied this, and countered with its own accusations of U.S. violations.

Russia did not wait passively. BBC News reported that Moscow suspended its own participation in the treaty in February 2019, shortly after the U.S. announced its intent to withdraw. The Arms Control Association confirmed that both nations had effectively abandoned the agreement by mid-2019, with mutual accusations of bad faith on both sides.

NATO backed the U.S. position, with the alliance formally concluding that Russia's 9M729 missile constituted a material breach. Reuters reported the final withdrawal on the day it happened, marking the end of an agreement that had been in force for over three decades. The collapse was not sudden — it had been building since at least 2014, when the Obama administration first formally accused Russia of violations.

This story spread widely because it is both true and significant. The end of the INF Treaty represents a real setback for nuclear arms control, and it feeds into legitimate public anxiety about a new arms race between major powers. The nuance worth keeping in mind: both sides bear responsibility for the breakdown, and the full picture is more complicated than either government's official narrative.