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US withdrawing from landmark nuclear arms treaty with Russia

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday announced that the US is withdrawing from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, a major pact with Russia that has played a key role in European security since the Cold War.

“There’s no mistaking that the Russians have chosen to not comply with this treaty,” Pompeo told reporters at the State Department in announcing the administration’s decision to pull out of the Reagan-era treaty.

“For years, Russia has violated the terms of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty without remorse,” he said.

For months, President Trump and his senior officials had been signaling that they were ready to pull out of the 1987 pact, which bans certain ground-launched cruise missiles.

The US and Europe accuse Moscow of violating the treaty since 2014. Russia denies violating the pact.





A senior Russian official responded to the announcement by delivering a stern warning.

“Of course, if the US withdraws from the treaty, Russia won’t continue to observe it unilaterally,” said Frants Klintsevich, a member of the Defense Committee in the upper house of parliament, according to Bloomberg News.

“The US is pulling out in order to legitimize putting its missiles in Europe. Well, we have what we need to re-target — such as sea-based missiles,” he said.

“Peaceful coexistence on the planet is of course under threat,” Klintsevich added. “That worries me a lot.”

Vladimir Shamanov, chairman of the Defense Committee in the lower house of parliament, said Moscow had been preparing for the move.

Just what the Kremlin’s response would be “is for the moment a state secret that will be revealed by the president,” he told the Russian state-owned RIA Novosti news agency.





Russian officials have said they would target any American missiles deployed in Europe after the US pulls out of the INF deal – but US officials have said they have no plans to deploy such weapons in Europe after exiting the treaty.

In a written statement issued by the White House, Trump blamed the Russians for the demise of the pact.



“For far too long, Russia has violated the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty with impunity, covertly developing and fielding a prohibited missile system that poses a direct threat to our allies and troops abroad,” Trump said in a statement.

“Tomorrow, the United States will suspend its obligations under the INF Treaty and begin the process of withdrawing from the INF Treaty, which will be completed in 6 months unless Russia comes back into compliance by destroying all of its violating missiles, launchers, and associated equipment,” he continued.





“Our NATO Allies fully support us, because they understand the threat posed by Russia’s violation and the risks to arms control posed by ignoring treaty violations.”

The White House said it has “fully adhered to the INF Treaty for more than 30 years,” but that the US will “not remain constrained by its terms while Russia misrepresents its actions.”

“We cannot be the only country in the world unilaterally bound by this treaty, or any other. We will move forward with developing our own military response options and will work with NATO and our other allies and partners to deny Russia any military advantage from its unlawful conduct.”

US officials also have expressed concern that China, which isn’t part of the treaty, is deploying large numbers of missiles in Asia that the US can’t counter because it’s bound by the treaty.





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