Trump confirms US withdrawal from major arms control treaty

President TrumpDonald John TrumpCorker: The United States Should Determine The Responsibility Of The Death Of A Saudi Journalist Five Conclusions To Be Withheld From The Heller-Rosen Hollywood Debate In Nevada A Senator Calls For US Action After An Explanation "absurd" in Arabia confirmed that the United States would withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, a nuclear deal signed between Washington and Moscow during the Cold War.

"We will terminate the agreement and we will withdraw," Trump told the press before a campaign rally in Nevada on Saturday.

"We will have to develop these weapons," he added.

The INF, signed in 1986 between former President Reagan and Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev, allows the United States to thwart Chinese efforts to accumulate weapons in the Pacific, but prevents Washington from deploying new weapons in response.

The New York Times reported Friday that the Pentagon was developing nuclear weapons to counter the Chinese weapons already deployed.

China is not a signatory to the agreement and the Trump government has accused Russia of violating the agreement.

"Russia's decision to violate the INF Treaty and other commitments makes it clear that Russia has repelled repeated US efforts to reduce the visibility, role and number of nuclear weapons," the administration wrote. in a nuclear strategy paper earlier this year.

The pact prohibits all land-based missiles with a range of 310 to 3 420 kilometers and includes nuclear and conventional warhead missiles. The initial ban between Moscow and Washington resulted in the destruction of 2,692 missiles.

The former President Obama has decided to stay in the market. Trump has not proposed a timetable for the actual withdrawal.

It would not be the first nuclear deal Trump would have withdrawn from. The president withdrew from Iran's nuclear deal with the Obama era, although the deal is an agreement and not a treaty and imposes nuclear restrictions on Iran alone.

The last president to withdraw from an important arms treaty was former President George W. Bush, in 2002, when he had withdrawn from the anti-nuclear missile treaty. ballistic.

The news comes just before the visit of National Security Adviser John Bolton to Moscow to meet the highest Russian officials.

The announcement follows a Trump administration trend that the White House is adopting tough policies against Moscow, including sanctions against Kremlin officials, while the president adopts a rosy language. against Russian President Vladimir Putin, who defends himself against accusations of collusion with Russia during the elections.