TRUMP PLANS TO PULL OUT OF NUCLEAR PACT

U.S. President Donald Trump says he plans to pull out of a major arms control treaty with Russia, claiming the Kremlin breached the accord on intermediate-range nuclear weapons. “We’re not going to let them violate a nuclear agreement,” Trump said Saturday after a campaign rally. “We’re going to terminate the agreement.”

Trump’s threat prompted a Russian demand for explanations and a warning by former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, pictured, who signed the Intermediaterange Nuclear Forces Treaty with then-President Ronald Reagan in 1987.

U.K. Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson was quoted as blaming Russia for the standoff.

The U.S. has been warning Russia it could resort to strong countermeasures unless Moscow complies with international commitments to arms reduction under the INF treaty.