Donald Trump suspends Cold War nuclear missile treaty with Russia ‘to hold Putin to account’
Officials in Washington also have expressed concern that China, which isn't part of the deal, is deploying large numbers of missiles in Asia
THE United States is pulling out of a Cold War treaty with Russia which bans ground-launched nuclear missiles.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the break from the pact that’s been a centrepiece of arms control for decades.
The US withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) had been expected for months amid a deterioration of relations between Vladimir Putin’s Russia and the West.
It follows years of unresolved dispute over Russian compliance with the 1987 pact, which bans certain ground-launched cruise missiles. Russia denies violating the treaty.
Pompeo says Washington will suspend its obligations to the treaty on Saturday insisting that if Moscow doesn’t come into compliance, the treaty “will terminate.”
US officials also have expressed concern that China, which isn’t part of the treaty, is deploying large numbers of missiles in Asia that the US can’t counter because it’s bound by the treaty.
Technically, a US withdrawal would take effect six months after this week’s notification, leaving a small window for saving the treaty.
TREATY BROKEN
However, in talks this week in Beijing, the US and Russia reported no breakthrough in their dispute, leaving little reason to think either side would change its stance on whether a Russian cruise missile violates the pact.
A Russian deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, was quoted by the Russian state news agency Tass as saying after the Beijing talks Thursday, “Unfortunately, there is no progress.
“The position of the American side is very tough and like an ultimatum.”
He said he expects Washington now to suspend its obligations under the treaty, although he added that Moscow remains ready to “search for solutions” that could keep the treaty in force.
American withdrawal raises the prospect of further deterioration in US-Russian relations, which already are arguably at the lowest point in decades.
The breakdown in diplomacy has sparked debate among US allies in Europe over whether Russia’s alleged violations warrant a countermeasure such as deployment of an equivalent American missile in Europe.
The US has no nuclear-capable missiles based in Europe – the last of that type and range were withdrawn in line with the INF treaty.
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