According to the administration Russia has been violating the terms of the INF treaty with the development of a mobile ground launched intermediate-range nuclear missile system capable of striking targets in Europe. Russia has denied the claim and National Security Advisor John Bolton will be in Russia on Monday to discuss the issue.

President Trump told media today in Nevada that he would be removing the United States from the agreement based on those violations from Russia.

The INF treaty was one of the centerpieces of nuclear agreements between President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.

ELKO, Nev. (Reuters) – President Donald Trump said on Saturday the United States will exit the Cold-War era Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty that eliminated a class of nuclear weapons, in a move that is likely to upset Russia.

The INF treaty, negotiated by then-President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and ratified by the U.S. Senate in 1988, 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. (read more)