US to end 1987 nuke treaty with Russia
The American president says Russians have violated the agreement and they’ve been violating it for many years
ELKO, NEVADA— US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that the United States would terminate the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty because Russia violated the three-decade-old agreement. The treaty, signed by US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev, began the process that officially ended the 44-year Cold War in 1991.
ELKO, NEVADA— The United States will terminate the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty that began the end of the 44-year Cold War, President Donald Trump said on Saturday.
Trump claims Russia had long violated the three-decadeold agreement.
Russia dishonored treaty
“We’re the ones who have stayed in the agreement and we’ve honored the agreement, but Russia has not, unfortunately, honored the agreement so we’re going to terminate the agreement and we’re going to pull out,” Trump said.
“Russia has violated the agreement. They’ve been violating it for many years. I don’t know why president [Barack] Obama didn’t negotiate or pull out. And we’re not going to let them violate a nuclear agreement and go out and do weapons [while] we’re not allowed to.”
Russia hits ulterior motive
But a Russian foreign ministry source told RIA Novosti state news agency that Washington’s “main motive is a dream of a unipolar world,” one that won’t be realized.
Trump spoke as his national security advisor, John Bolton, was set to meet next week with Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, ahead of what is expected to be a second summit between Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin this year.
Bolton was also set to meet with Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev and Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said a “possible meeting” was being prepared between Putin and Bolton.
The announcement came after the United States complained that Moscow’s deployment of 9M729 missiles, which Washington said could travel more than 500 kilometers, violated the INF treaty.
Treaty ended Cold War
The INF treaty, negotiated by then President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, and marked the beginning of the end of the Cold War.
The treaty, which banned missiles with ranges of 500 to 5,500 km, stemmed from a crisis that began with the Soviet deployment of SS-20 nucleartipped, intermediate-range ballistic missiles aimed at Western capitals.
Washington now believes Moscow is again developing and has deployed a groundlaunched system that again threatened European capitals. Russia denied the claim. Trump said the United States would develop similar weapons unless Russia and China agree to a halt.
China dragged in
China is not a party to the treaty and has invested heavily in conventional missiles as part of an antiaccess or area denial strategy, while the INF has banned US possession of ground-launched ballistic missiles, or cruise missiles of ranges between 500 and 5,500 km.
Bolton will visit Moscow next week.