Bolton urges Trump administration to withdraw from historic arms deal

The Trump administration has announced to its allies that it wishes to withdraw from the Reagan-era Interim Nuclear Forces Treaty, or INF, and plans to inform Russian leaders of its position in the coming days, have declared foreign diplomats and other close relatives deliberations.

The planning is an original idea of ​​John Bolton, Trump's fierce national security adviser, who told American allies that he believed that INF placed Washington in an "extremely weak position" against Russia "and more importantly with China, "said an unnamed diplomat to discuss the sensitive issue.

For years, the United States has been worried that Russia is violating INF with a land-launched cruise missile known as SSC-8. Russia, in turn, accused the United States of violating the treaty with missile defense facilities in Europe – a charge denied by the US authorities.

Officials said Washington had not made the final decision to withdraw from the treaty, which would require a formal six-month notification, but US officials intended to signal the administration's intentions while Bolton would go to Moscow for talks with Russian officials.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, speaking at NATO headquarters earlier this month, said the United States would not accept the status quo for a long time.

"Russia must return to the respect of the INF treaty or the United States will have to meet its indifferent rider of the treaty's specific limits," said Mattis. "The current situation with Russia in flagrant violation of this treaty is untenable."

The INF Treaty was seen as a highlight in the Cold War arms control negotiations. In the face of strong objections from many Europeans, the United States installed Pershing II intermediate-range missiles in Europe in the 1980s. The deployment put pressure on the Soviets who eventually led Moscow to agree to eliminate all missiles with a range of 500 to 5,500 kilometers, including the Pershings.

At the end of the Obama administration, officials sought to use the dispute resolution mechanism provided for in the treaty to resolve the dispute, but to no avail.

The Trump administration has taken a more muscular approach. In order to strengthen the pressure on Moscow, the Pentagon has started research and development work on an INF-prohibited missile that the United States could test, produce, and deploy during the collapse of the treaty. Research and development is not prohibited by the pact.

Bolton's plans indicate that his National Security Council intends to unravel international agreements that, in his view, constitute a constraint on US power, especially if others violate it.

"In two administrations, the United States and our allies have tried to bring Russia back to a full and verifiable respect for the INF," said a senior administration official in a statement, said. expressing anonymity because of the lively nature of the discussions. "Despite our objections, Russia continues to produce and process prohibited correspondences and has ignored calls for transparency."

Critics, while acknowledging the violations committed by Russia, say the Trump government should first work to preserve the Cold War treaty instead of abolishing it after a brief number of meetings with its Russian counterparts.

"The violation of the treaty by Russia is dangerous, but it is still possible to hand over Moscow in accordance with the agreement," said Alexandra Bell, senior director of policy at the Center for the Control of Armaments and non-compliance proliferation. "A formal dialogue on strategic stability in 22 months is not a serious diplomatic attempt. The State Department must conduct technical discussions with the Russians on how to resolve this violation. "

The Trump administration seems to have less and less patience. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Secretary of the Security Council Nikolai Patrushev are preparing to travel to Moscow on Saturday to discuss various arms control and strategy issues. On Friday, the New York Times announced for the first time that Bolton would inform Moscow that the United States is planning to withdraw from the treaty.

The US military has long been complaining that the treaty unnecessarily limited its ability to develop and deploy intermediate-range missiles to counter China in the Asia-Pacific theater.

Before his retirement, Admiral Harry Harris, former chief of Pacific Command, had warned earlier this year that the United States had no ground missile capability to threaten China because of the INF treaty , claiming that more than 90 percent of Chinese missiles were meanwhile. , violate the pact. Unlike Russia and the United States, China is not party to the treaty.

The decision to inform the Russians is part of a larger chess game that the Trump administration is seeking to play with Moscow on cold-war-era arms control agreements that have started to crumble in recent years.

The Pentagon plans to reintroduce submarine nuclear cruise missiles into the US fleet in response to Russia's violation of the INF, Mattis said earlier this year in a congressional testimony.

"I want to make sure our negotiators have something to negotiate," said Mattis. "We want Russia to return to compliance. We do not want to give up the INF. At the same time, we have options if Russia continues to follow this path. "

This decision should rouse Russia's anger and complicate the democrats' rhetoric that the Trump government is not tough enough on Moscow. On Friday, the first Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee criticized the decision as too reckless.

"Withdrawing from the INF Treaty before consulting our allies adequately and exploring all the diplomatic avenues to resolve the violations committed by Russia undermines US and European security," said Eliot L. Engel (DN. Y.) In a statement. "President Reagan has concluded this treaty to reduce the risk of war in Europe. We owe it to our allies and to the American people to do everything in their power to restore Russia's conformity and preserve peace. "

Senator Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), A member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, welcomed the decision, saying that despite the intentions of the treaty, "the Russians cheat openly and the Chinese stock missiles because they are not bound by at all. "

"I have long been asking the United States to consider whether this treaty is still serving our national interests," Cotton said. "If this information is true, I congratulate the administration for recognizing that it is time to move on."

Bolton's attempt to withdraw from the treaty was reported for the first time by the Guardian.

Carol Morello contributed to this report.