Gorbachev warns White House leaving missile treaty ‘is a mistake’

MIKHAIL GORBACHEV, the former Soviet leader, yesterday warned Donald Trump against leaving a Cold Warera weapons treaty, saying the move could have unintended consequences.

The 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty was negotiated by Mr Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan to eliminate all land-based nuclear and conventional missiles with ranges between 310 and 3,400 miles.

However, the US has repeatedly accused Russia of violating its terms, with both sides hinting at military retaliation in a dispute that threatens a return to the darkest of Cold War days. Mr Gorbachev said Mr Trump’s abandoning of the deal was a mistake.

“Under no circumstances should we tear up old disarmament agreements … Do they really not understand in Washington what this could lead to?” he said, according to the Interfax News Agency. “Quitting the INF is a mistake.”

A Kremlin spokesman said Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, would seek answers from the United States about its planned withdrawal when he meets John Bolton, the US national security adviser, who arrived in Moscow last night for two days of what are expected to be tense talks, believed to be laying the groundwork for a second Trump-putin summit.

US officials believe Moscow has deployed a ground system that could allow it to launch a nuclear strike on Europe at short notice. Russia has consistently denied any such violation.

The US fears the treaty also leaves it at a disadvantage against China, which is not a party to the deal.

Gavin Williamson, the Defence Secretary, backed Mr Trump, saying Russia was making a “mockery” of the accord.

“Our close and long-term ally, of course, is the US and we will be absolutely resolute with the US in hammering home a clear message that Russia needs to respect the treaty obligation that it signed,” he said during a visit to New York.