WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump announced Saturday that he would step down from office treaty with Russia dating back to the Cold War, which would be limited the number of missiles in each country.

Trump said that Moscow had violated the Mid-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty and that it would terminate the agreement.

"We will end the agreement and we will withdraw," Trump said as he left a rally in Nevada on Saturday afternoon. He said that the United States would withdraw "and then we would develop the weapons," unless Russia and China agree to a new agreement, although China is not currently party to it. 39; agreement.

"Russia has violated the agreement, they have been violating it for many years," said the president, "and we will not let them break a nuclear deal, go out and make weapons and we are not allowed to do so. "

Trump made this revelation as his national security adviser, John Bolton, headed for Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia. in Moscow, where he will meet Russian leaders, including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and Secretary of the Security Council Nikolai Patrushev

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During most of the Cold War, the US-Russia summits were dominated by the issue of nuclear weapons, Presidents Nixon, Carter and Reagan concluding a series of additional agreements to limit the number of e, the size and location of the nuclear arsenal of each party.

The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty was one of those agreements and should expire in the next two years. The 1987 pact helps to protect the security of the United States and its allies in Europe and the Far East.

It prohibits the United States and Russia from possessing, producing, or testing their ground-based cruise missiles from a range of 300 to 3,400 miles. It also covers all land-based missiles, including those carrying nuclear warheads.

"The INF Treaty is probably in its last days, it's unfortunate," said Steven Pifer, a former member of the Brookings Institution and former United States Ambbadador to Ukraine. .

Pifer, describing the news in an article for the Brookings Institution, said that Trump's decision meant that the United States would be blamed for being removed from an agreement to make the world safer.

The historic treaty, signed by Ronald Reagan, contributed to the destruction of thousands of missiles and the reduction of tensions during the Cold War.

But for years, the United States has accused Russia of raping it and increasing and rapidly increasing its stockpile of weapons. Meanwhile, Trump says that the United States is forced because of the deal, preventing the nation from catching up.

In February, the Defense Department described some of Russia's progress in a report, in which the US was also asked to develop two additional new nuclear weapons in order to hold other world powers, including China, from a distance.

For more information: United States. Russia develops a nuclear weapon torpedo

More: Report: The Russian missile deployment violates the treaty

One of the arms declared by the Ministry of Defense Russia was creating a nuclear-armed intercontinental torpedo capable of traveling thousands of kilometers and hitting American coastal cities with a minimum of warning.

Called the "Status-6 Ocean Multiuse System", the Russian torpedo would be able to deliver cobalt thermonuclear bombs up to 100 megatons. The weapon could trigger a wave of radioactive water caused by the tsunami and cover a coastal city. Politicians have called the torpedo the "weapon of judgment day".

The president said progress, including China's, was "unacceptable".

"We will have to develop these weapons, unless Russia comes to see us and China comes to see us and we all come to ask us to be smart and not to develop these weapons, but if Russia does it and if China does it and we adhere to it, it's unacceptable, "Trump said.

The President went on to explain that he would remain willingly in the pact, but that "as long as anyone violates the agreement, will not be the only ones to adhere to it."

The problem, Pifer said, is that if the US withdraws from the treaty, Russia will have no reason to stop creating and testing new weapons. He said the negotiations were ongoing.

"The US withdrawal from the INF treaty is a loser," he said. "The Russian authorities are probably celebrating the news."

Trump made the announcement Saturday after a campaign stop in Elko, Nevada.

National Defense John Bolton traveled to Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia on Saturday.

Contributing: Associated Press

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