The United States is suspending its compliance with the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) with Russia on Saturday and will withdraw from the landmark 1987 arms control accord in six months if Moscow does not end its alleged violation of the pact, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday.
Pompeo said that the administration will provide a formal notice to Russia that US is withdrawing from INF treaty in six months, and if Moscow doesn’t come into compliance, the treaty “will terminate”.
An American withdrawal from pact has been expected for months, and follows repeated accusations by Washington that Moscow is violating the treaty – a charge the Kremlin denies.
The treaty, signed in 1987 by then-President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, banned an entire class of weapons: ground-launched cruise missiles with a range between 500km and 5,000km.
Such weapons were seen as particularly dangerous since they take only a few minutes to reach their targets, leaving little time for political leaders to ponder a response and raising the threat of a nuclear war in case of a false attack warning.
More soon…
SOURCE:
Al Jazeera and news agencies
