As treaty falters, Putin floats second summit with Trump
MOSCOW — John Bolton, the U.S. national security adviser, rejected Russian entreaties Tuesday to remain committed to an arms control treaty signed more than three decades ago, threatening to deepen a new dispute between the Kremlin and the Trump administration.
Bolton suggested after a meeting with President Vladimir Putin of Russia and other Russian officials in Moscow that no progress had been made in resolving President Donald Trump’s complaint that Russia has reneged on the pact, the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, or INF.
Trump has said that because of what he described as Russia’s violations, the United States intends to abandon the treaty, signed by President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1987. The pact eliminated hundreds of nuclear missiles installed in Europe.
Russia has exhorted the United States to reconsider, saying such a decision could lead to a new nuclear arms race.
“The American position is that Russia is in violation,” Bolton said at a news conference in response to a question about the treaty. “Russia’s position is that they are not in violation.
“So one has to ask how to ask the Russians to come back into compliance with something they don’t think they’re violating.”
Bolton offered no details on possible next steps by the United States to renounce the treaty. It remained possible that the administration’s decision was not final.
Earlier Tuesday, before they met privately, Putin told Bolton while reporters were present that he was open to another meeting with Trump and that it might be arranged on the sidelines of a coming international gathering.
“Of course, it would be useful to continue the direct dialogue with the president of the United States,” Putin said, and suggested meeting at an international gathering scheduled in Paris on Nov. 11 to mark the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I.
Bolton responded that Trump would be happy to meet, though it was unclear whether a meeting had been formally agreed upon.
The two leaders’ last meeting, held in Helsinki, Finland, in July with only interpreters present, touched off bipartisan criticism in Washington after Trump suggested at a news conference that he accepted Putin’s denials of election interference despite the findings of U.S. intelligence agencies.
Trump later said he had misspoken.