U.S. President Donald Trump
President Donald Trump said on Saturday the United States will exit the Cold-War era treaty that eliminated a class of nuclear weapons due to Russian violations, a move an official in Moscow called a dangerous attempt at blackmail.
The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, negotiated by then-President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1987, required elimination of short-range and intermediate-range nuclear and conventional missiles by both countries.
"Russia has not, unfortunately, honored the agreement so we're going to terminate the agreement and we're going to pull out," Trump told reporters after a rally in Nevada.
Washington believes Moscow is developing and has deployed a ground-launched system in breach of the INF treaty that could allow Moscow to launch a nuclear strike on Europe at short notice. Russia has consistently denied any such violation.
Trump said the United States will develop the weapons unless Russia and China agree to a halt on development.
China is not a party to the treaty and has invested heavily in conventional missiles as part of an anti-access/area denial strategy, while the INF has banned U.S possession of ground- launched ballistic missiles or cruise missiles of ranges between 500 and 5,500 km (311 and 3,418 miles).
Trump's national security adviser, John Bolton, will visit Moscow next week.
Russia's deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, in comments reported by TASS news agency, said a unilateral U.S. withdrawal from the treaty "would be a very dangerous step."
Ryabkov was also quoted as saying that it was Washington and not Moscow that was failing to comply with the treaty.
He said the Trump administration was using the treaty in an attempt to blackmail the Kremlin, putting global security at risk.
"We see an attempt to, effectively, present Russian with an ultimatum," Interfax news agency quoted Ryabkov as saying. "...We will, of course, accept no ultimatums or blackmail methods."
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that he will pull the country out of a nuclear arms agreement with Russia.The deal being referred to is the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, ratified in 1987 by the U.S. and the then-Soviet Union, which eliminated all nuclear missiles and launchers with a range of 310 - 3,420 miles (500 - 5,500 kilometers).Trump spoke to reporters after a campaign rally in Nevada, and said that "Russia has violated the agreement.""We’re going to terminate the agreement and we’re going to pull out," Trump added.Trump's remarks come as National Security Adviser John Bolton prepares to travel to Moscow early next week to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.The pact has made it difficult for the U.S. to develop new weapons to combat China's attempt to impose nuclear dominance over the Western Pacific region.China is not a part of the agreement, and therefore is not restricted in the development of nuclear missiles.The president went further to criticize former President Barack Obama for staying in the agreement, noting that Russia has been developing weapons that had been banned as part of the deal.Trump did not give a timeline as to when the U.S. would officially remove themselves from the INF.Next summit for Trump, N.Korea's Kim likely after first of year: senior US officialTrump a reluctant critic of Saudi Arabia despite pressure to actTrump: Congress to be involved in Khashoggi responseTrump keen, Congress unswayed by Khashoggi explanation
Trump says US pulling out of Russian nuclear arms deal