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(ELKO, Nevada) – President Donald Trump has announced his intention to abolish a historic arms control agreement with Russia, which follows years of Moscow's violations of the development of prohibited weapons. The Kremlin said the withdrawal "would be a very dangerous step".
Britain said it remained "absolutely resolute" with the United States, while Germany described Trump's move as "unfortunate".
Heiko Maas said Sunday in a statement that the three-decade-old middle-range nuclear force treaty is "an important pillar of our European security architecture" and that Trump's announcement raises difficult questions. for us and Europe ".
The 1987 pact prohibits the United States and Russia from possessing, producing or testing a ground-launched cruise missile with a range of 300 to 3,400 miles.
Maas said that Germany has repeatedly asked Moscow to "clarify the serious allegations of violation of the INF Treaty, which Russia has not yet done."
He added that Germany urged Washington to "consider the possible consequences" of its decision, including for a US-Russian nuclear disarmament treaty beyond 2021.
The 1987 Intermediate-Nuclear Forces Treaty 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 owning, producing or testing a ground-launched cruise missile with a range of 300 to 3,400 miles.
"Russia has violated the agreement. They have been violating it for many years, "Trump said Saturday at the end of a rally in Elko, Nevada. "And we will not let them break a nuclear deal, go out and make weapons without doing anything."
The deal has prevented the United States from developing new weapons, but America will start developing them unless Russia and China agree not to own or develop these weapons, Trump said. China is not party to the pact.
"We will have to develop these weapons, unless Russia comes to us and China comes to us and they all tell us that they have to be really smart and that none of us should not develop these weapons, but if Russia does it and if China does it and we respect the agreement, that's unacceptable, "he said.
Trump sent his national security adviser, John Bolton, to Moscow for meetings with Russian leaders, including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and Secretary of the Security Council Nikolai Patrushev, to announce Trump's decision .
"It would be a very dangerous step," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told the Tass news agency on Sunday. He said that a US withdrawal "will result in the most serious conviction of all members of the international community who are committed to security and stability".
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said that Trump's decision was "regrettable", that the treaty was "an important pillar of our European security architecture" and that a "withdrawal" raised difficult questions for we and for Europe ". Maas also said that Germany had "Clarify the serious allegations of violation of the INF Treaty, which Russia has not yet done."
British Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson said his country was "absolutely resolute" with the United States in the treaty dispute. Williamson accused Russia of endangering the arms control pact and called on the Kremlin to "put its affairs in order".
Williamson told the Financial Times Sunday that Moscow had ridiculed the Mid-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.
US-Russian relations are already strained in the aftermath of the Ukrainian crisis, the war in Syria and allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential race and the forthcoming mid-term elections. course in the United States.
Trump did not provide details of the violations. But in 2017, national security officials at the White House said that Russia had deployed a cruise missile in violation of the treaty. Earlier, the Obama administration had accused the Russians of violating the pact by developing and testing a banned cruise missile.
Russia has repeatedly denied that it has violated the treaty and accused the United States of not complying with it.
Defense Secretary James Mattis has already suggested that a Trump administration proposal to add a cruise missile launched by sea to the US nuclear arsenal could give the US the leverage needed to convince Russia to join the arms treaty.
The Russian Foreign Minister said in February that the country would consider using nuclear weapons only in response to a nuclear attack or other weapon of mass destruction, or in response to a non-nuclear assault endangering the survival of the Russian nation.
Dmitry Oreshkin, an independent political scientist, said: "We are slowly falling back into the Cold War situation as it appeared at the end of the Soviet Union, with rather similar consequences, but the situation could be worse because (Russian President Vladimir) Putin belongs to a generation that has not experienced war. "
Trump's decision could lead to controversy with European allies and others who see the value of the treaty, said Steven Pifer, former US ambassador to Ukraine and currently principal investigator at the Brookings Institution, specializing in arms control nuclear.
"Once the United States withdrew from the treaty, Russia will no longer have any reason to pretend to respect the limits," he wrote in a message posted on his website. organization. "Moscow will be free to deploy the 9M729 cruise missile and, if it wishes, a mid-range ballistic missile, without any constraints."
US officials have previously said Russia violated the treaty by deliberately deploying a land-based cruise missile to pose a threat to NATO. Russia claimed that US missile defenses violated the pact.
In the past, the Obama administration has tried to convince Moscow to respect the INF Treaty, but has made little progress.
"If they get smart and if others get it and say they do not have to develop these horrible nuclear weapons, I'd be extremely happy about that, but as long as someone will violate it." We will not be the only ones to join. to that, "said Trump.
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Balsamo reported from Washington. Associated press editors Deb Riechmann in Washington and Tanya Titova and James Heintz in Moscow contributed to this report.
