The day the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) was signed between the USSR and the USA

On 8 December 1987, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev and the American President Ronald Reagan signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), the first agreement implying absolute arms reduction. Under the Treaty, 2,611 missiles were to be eliminated. The treaty came into force on 1 June 1988. The signatories agreed not to produce, test or deploy ballistic or cruise missiles deployed on the ground of medium (from 1,000 to 5,500 km) and short range (from 500 to 1,000 km).