[ad_1]
Copyright of the image
Getty Images
Mr Trump said Russia had violated the Mid-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which he had threatened to abandon.
President Donald Trump warned that the United States would strengthen its nuclear arsenal in order to put pressure on Russia and China.
S addressing reporters, he reiterated his belief that Russia had violated the 1987 treaty on intermediate-range nuclear forces (INF), which he had threatened to leave. Russia denies this.
The Cold War era treaty prohibited medium – range missiles, thereby reducing the Soviet threat perceived by European countries.
Russia has warned that it would react in the same way if the US develops more weapons.
Trump said the United States would build its arsenal "until people regain consciousness."
- Is it the return to a nuclear arms race?
He added: "This is a threat for anyone who wants to include China and this includes Russia, as well as anyone who wants to play this game … [Russia has] not adhered to the spirit of this agreement nor to the agreement itself ".
Meanwhile, US National Security Advisor John Bolton held talks in Moscow after Russia condemned the US plan to leave the deal.
Mr. Bolton was told that the withdrawal of the United States would be a "serious blow" to the non-proliferation regime.
However, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev also said the Kremlin was "ready" to work with the United States to eliminate "mutual" grievances against INF.
As Mr Bolton began his visit, Moscow warned that she would take steps to maintain the nuclear balance.
"We need to hear the US side's explanation on this issue," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. "The removal of the treaty obliges Russia to take measures to ensure its own security".
Copyright of the image
Russian Ministry of Defense
Launch of a Russian missile Iskander-M during a fiscal year 2017
What does the treaty say?
The INF Treaty was signed by US President Ronald Reagan and the last Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev during the last years of the Cold War.
It banned mid-range missiles launched on the ground, with a range of 500 to 5 500 km (nuclear and conventional).
Mikhail Gorbachev, one of the original signatories to the NIF treaty, said Sunday that a US withdrawal would cancel efforts to achieve nuclear disarmament.
- Trump and nuclear codes
Copyright of the image
Getty Images
Mikhail Gorbachev, on the left, and Ronald Reagan sign the agreement in 1987
But the United States insists that the Russians have, in violation of the agreement, developed a new medium-range missile called Novator 9M729 – known as SSC-8 – which would allow Russia to launch a nuclear attack against the NATO countries very quickly. note.
Moscow denies treaty violations by the missile but NATO said in July that Russia had given no "credible response" to the missile and concluded that "the most plausible assessment would be that the Russia violates the treaty ".
The German Foreign Minister described as "regrettable" the planned withdrawal of Mr Trump from the INF and called the agreement "of utmost importance, especially for us in Europe".
But leaving the INF is also seen as a counter-movement in China, which has not adhered to the agreement and can therefore develop such weapons as it sees fit.
This decision could create uncertainty about the future of other disarmament agreements between the United States and Russia, such as the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which ends in February 2021.
The last time the United States withdrew from a major arms treaty, it was in 2002, when President George W. Bush withdrew them from the anti-ballistic missile treaty, which prohibited weapons designed to counter ballistic nuclear missiles.
