U.S. will pull out of arms pact with Russia.
White House accuses Russia of violations
WASHINGTON – The Trump administration will halt U.S. compliance with a nuclear arms control treaty with Russia, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday, citing Moscow’s “brazen” violations of a pact that has served as a cornerstone of nonproliferation since the Cold War.
“For almost six years, the United States has gone to tremendous lengths to preserve this agreement,” Pompeo said. He said the Kremlin’s repeated denials that it has developed a covert missile system in violation of the treaty have left America and its European allies at immense risk.
“Russia has jeopardized the United States’ security interests, and we can no longer be restricted by the treaty while Russia shamelessly violates it,” Pompeo said.
The U.S. will suspend compliance with the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty on Saturday and begin a six-month formal withdrawal process, Pompeo said.
That gives Moscow additional time to reverse course – even as the Trump administration begins to look at developing and deploying new intermediate range missiles.
“We will move forward with developing our own military response options and will work with NATO and our other allies and partners to deny Russia any military advantage from its unlawful conduct,” President Donald Trump said in a statement Friday.
Supporters of the move said it was long overdue, after years of trying to cajole Russia back into compliance proved fruitless.
But critics said abandoning the 32year-old treaty could spark a new arms race, undermine American credibility and put Europe at risk of Russian aggression.
“Russia’s brazen noncompliance with this treaty is deeply concerning, but discarding a key pillar of our nonproliferation security framework creates unacceptable risks,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
While experts do not dispute Russia’s violations, proponents of arms control argue the U.S. decision will allow Russia to be more overt and aggressive.
“This really changes the dynamic where Russia could deploy systems that are much more offensive, and that upsets the security balance in Europe, because it can hold at risk a lot of the countries who are NATO allies and partners,” said Rachel Ellehuus, deputy director and senior fellow with the Europe Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.
Russia will now be able “to turn the narrative on the United States and NATO and essentially say, ‘We need to defend ourselves, and the way we defend ourselves is by deploying these systems in our neighborhood,’ ” Ellehuus said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday that Russia greeted the decision with “much regret” and blamed the U.S. for the treaty’s collapse, saying Washington has been “unwilling to hold any substantial talks” to save it.