U.S., Russia discuss arms control treaties

U.S. President Donald Trump’s national security adviser met in Moscow with top Russian officials Monday, less than 48 hours after Trump declared he intended to pull the United States out of a 1987 nuclear weapons treaty.

National Security Adviser John Bolton and his Russian counterpart, Security Council chairman Nikolai Patrushev, discussed arms control agreements, Syria, Iran, North Korea and the fight against terrorism, according to the Security Council.

During the talks, Patrushev emphasized the importance of maintaining the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, the Security Council said in a statement carried by Russian news agencies.

In his announcement about withdrawing from the agreement, Trump alleged that Russia violated it terms. The treaty prohibits the U.S. and Russia from possessing, producing or testflying ground-launched nuclear cruise missiles with a range of 500 to 5,500 kilometres (300 to 3,400 miles.)

Patrushev reaffirmed Russia’s “readiness for joint work to consider mutual complaints regarding the treaty’s implementation,” the Security Council said.

“It was underlined that its abrogation would deal a serious blow to the entire international system of nuclear nonproliferation and arms control,” the council’s statement said.