Trump says the United States is ready to strengthen its nuclear arsenal



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AFP

President Donald Trump said Monday that the United States was ready to strengthen its nuclear arsenal after announcing that their country was abandoning a nuclear treaty signed during the Cold war Russia warns that the withdrawal of the United States could affect global security .

Trump announced on Saturday its decision on the nuclear arms treaty INF (the Treaty on Intermediate Nuclear Forces) three decades ago.

As he explained on Monday, Trump told reporters in Washington that Russia "did not bend to the spirit of this agreement or the agreement itself. even".

"Until people regain common sense, we will rebuild it." He said, referring to the American nuclear arsenal. "It must have been done years ago."

"It's a threat to everyone, including China and Russia," said the president. "And that includes everyone who wants to play this game, they can not do it."

A blow to security

Russia, for its part, warned that abandoning the treaty would be a blow to global security.

White House National Security Advisor John Bolton met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday in Moscow to discuss the issue. After the meeting, Russia declared that she was willing to work with the United States to maintain the pact.

Bolton, who is expected to meet with President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, addressed the issue of the Lavrov treaty and spent "about five hours" with Nikolai Patrushev, President of the Russian National Security Council, said a spokesman for the Council.

Russian authorities insisted that Moscow was not violating the treaty, Bolton said after the meeting.

"They said: it's you who are violating the treaty," said Bolton in an interview for the Russian newspaper Kommersant. "You can not force yourself to obey somebody who thinks it's not your fault," he added, adding that the treaty was on the water.

"The withdrawal of the treaty is not the cause of the problem, but the fact that Russia does not respect the treaty ," he said. The United States does not want to be the only country to respect it, he said, citing "a very real threat" from China.

Bolton and Lavrov also discussed the possibility of extending the Strategic Missile Start-Up Treaty by five years, which will expire in 2021, according to the Russian Security Council. But the White House advisor told Kommersant that Washington wanted "to first solve the INF problem.

While the announcement by the United States fears a return to nuclear proliferation, Russian government spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday that Russia "will not attack anyone first."

Bolton is known for his tough positions in foreign policy. In the past, he defended a fall of the Iranian regime and was one of the most prominent supporters to "break out of the Iranian agreement" signed in 2015 by several powers with Tehran for the first time. prevent the development of nuclear weapons.

Appointed in March 2018, Bolton He never concealed his belief that Washington should militarily attack North Korea instead of negotiating with the regime, he also defends broader sanctions against Russia, accused by Washington to try to disrupt the American electoral process.

"At the heart of global security"

According to the British newspaper The Guardian, Bolton lobbied Trump to announce the withdrawal of the INF treaty. This would also block all negotiations on the extension of the New Start Treaty.

The INF Treaty was signed in 1987 by the latest leader of the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev, and the President of the United States, Ronald Reagan.

Trump's government complains of Moscow's deployment of the 9M729 missile system, which, according to the United States, exceeds 500 km, violating the FNI text.

The INF Treaty, which removes the use of a whole series of missiles with a range of 500 to 5,000 km had put an end to the crisis unleashed in the 1980s by the deployment of SS- 20 Soviet with nuclear warheads in Eastern Europe and US Pershing missiles in Western Europe.

that the measure of the United States could be motivated by a so-called Chinese threat. Beijing is not part of the INF agreement, so it can develop unimpeded intermediate-range nuclear weapons.

International reactions were unanimous in asking the United States not to abandon the INF Treaty.

The Union the European Union said Monday that Washington and Moscow "should continue a constructive dialogue to preserve the treaty," which he described as "crucial for the EU and global security ".

Meanwhile, Beijing was of the opinion that Washington should "think twice" before deciding on the withdrawal.



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