U.S. formally withdraws from 1987 nuclear pact with Russia

[snoop1130]

U.S. formally withdraws from 1987 nuclear pact with Russia

By Steve Holland, Andrew Osborn

 

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Ronald Reagan (R) and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev sign the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty in the White House December 8 1987. REUTERS//File Photo

 

WASHINGTON/MOSCOW (Reuters) - The United States formally withdrew from a landmark nuclear missile pact with Russia on Friday after determining that Moscow was in violation of the treaty, something the Kremlin has repeatedly denied.

 

U.S. President Donald Trump made the determination that the United States would terminate adherence to the 1987 arms control accord, known as the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), senior administration officials told reporters.

 

The treaty bans either side from stationing short- and intermediate-range, land-based missiles in Europe. Washington signaled its intention six months ago to pull out of the agreement if Russia made no move to adhere to it.

 

“The United States will not remain party to a treaty that is deliberately violated by Russia,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement about the U.S. withdrawal.

 

“Russia’s noncompliance under the treaty jeopardizes U.S. supreme interests as Russia’s development and fielding of a treaty-violating missile system represents a direct threat to the United States and our allies and partners,” Pompeo said. 

 

The senior administration officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Russia had deployed “multiple battalions” of a Russian cruise missile throughout Russia in violation of the pact, including in western Russia, “with the ability to strike critical European targets.”

 

Russia denies the allegation, saying the missile’s range puts it outside the treaty, and has accused the United States of inventing a false pretext to exit a treaty Washington wants to leave anyway so it can develop new missiles.

 

Russia has also rejected a U.S. demand to destroy the new missile, the Novator 9M729, which is known as the SSC-8 by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

 

In response to the U.S. move, Russia said it had asked the United States to declare and enforce a moratorium on the deployment of short and intermediate-range nuclear missiles in Europe.

 

“We have proposed to the United States and other NATO countries that they weigh the possibility of declaring the same kind of moratorium on the deployment of short and intermediate range missiles as ours, like the one announced by Vladimir Putin,” Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was quoted as saying by the TASS news agency.

 

AGGRAVATING TENSIONS

 

The INF treaty, negotiated by then-President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and ratified by the U.S. Senate, eliminated the medium-range ground-launched missile arsenals of the world’s two biggest nuclear powers and reduced their ability to launch a nuclear strike at short notice.

 

The treaty bans land-based missiles with a range between 310 and 3,400 miles (500-5,500 km).

 

The dispute is aggravating the worst U.S.-Russia friction since the Cold War ended in 1991. Some experts believe the treaty’s collapse could undermine other arms control agreements and speed an erosion of the global system designed to block the spread of nuclear arms.

 

Trump has sought to improve U.S. relations with Russia after a chill during the tenure of his predecessor, Barack Obama. He and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone on Wednesday about Siberian wildfires and trade.

 

Arms control did not come up in the call, the officials said.

 

European officials have voiced concern that if the treaty collapses, Europe could again become an arena for nuclear-armed, intermediate-range missile buildups by the United States and Russia.

 

CHINA DEAL

 

The officials said the United States was months away from the first flight tests of an American intermediate-range missile that would serve as a counter to the Russians. Any such deployment would be years away, they said.

 

“We are just at the stage of looking at how we might further the development of conventional options,” one official said.

 

Trump has said he would like to see a “next-generation” arms control deal with Russia and China to cover all types of nuclear weapons.

 

He has broached the topic individually with Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, including at the G20 summit in Osaka in June.

 

China is not a party to nuclear arms pacts between the United States and Russia and it is unclear how willing Beijing would be to be drawn into talks.

 

China’s Foreign Ministry has reiterated that the country had no interest in joining such talks.

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-08-02

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[tomacht8]

Trump destroys all contracts of international cooperation. Paris climate protocol, Iran deal, existing trade agreements, etc. and threatened all forms of worldwide cooperation.

But he has not achieved anything new or better.

An inflated clown without content.

[Chomper Higgot]

And thereby opens the door to Russia developing new  weapons hitherto banned under the agreement 

[from the home of CC]

https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/01/politics/us-missile-test-inf-treaty/index.html

 

lol - not only Russia

[from the home of CC]

I think he's doing it just to impress rocket man..

[Tug]

So I wonder who donald got advice from?possibly a group of learned treaty experts or possibly that cheese burger gut my money is on the latter between him and Mitch McConnell they are the best assets the russan federation ever had

[watcharacters]

3 minutes ago, Tug said:

So I wonder who donald got advice from?possibly a group of learned treaty experts or possibly that cheese burger gut my money is on the latter between him and Mitch McConnell they are the best assets the russan federation ever had

 

Please don't forget Mr. Bolton.

 

[Morch]

1 hour ago, Chomper Higgot said:

And thereby opens the door to

Russia developing new weapons hitherto banned under the agreement 

 

Open the door how? If the USA complaints are correct, then such weapons are not only already developed, but deployed.

[ExpatOilWorker]

Sadly it is probably the right thing to do, as China can freely develop missiles with that range (The treaty bans land-based missiles with a range between 310 and 3,400 miles (500-5,500 km).)

[metisdead]

A troll post and the replies have been removed. 

 

Edit:  An offensive troll post and a reply has now been removed. 

Edited August 2, 2019 by metisdead

[thaiguzzi]

Time for Vlad to release the wee wee and hooker videos and stills............

[from the home of CC]

arms races can be very profitable to some..

[Chomper Higgot]

12 hours ago, Morch said:

 

Open the door how? If the USA complaints are correct, then such weapons are not only already developed, but deployed.

If

[Emdog]

10 hours ago, thaiguzzi said:

Time for Vlad to release the wee wee and hooker videos and stills............

Once you release those, their value in blackmail is gone. Trump has been prepping public with so much outrageous behavior that tapes would now barely raise an eyebrow

[PhonThong]

Good time for Trump to pull all U.S. forces out of Europe. Let them fend for themselves.

[legend49]

13 hours ago, Tug said:

So I wonder who donald got advice from?possibly a group of learned treaty experts or possibly that cheese burger gut my money is on the latter between him and Mitch McConnell they are the best assets the russan federation ever had

Spasibo comrade.

[Boon Mee]

30 minutes ago, PhonThong said:

Good time for Trump to pull all U.S. forces out of Europe. Let them fend for themselves.

Hear hear! ???? 

[mogandave]

Good time for Trump to pull all U.S. forces out of Europe. Let them fend for themselves.

 

Europe does not need the US to protect it. If anything, they need protection FROM the US.

 

The idea that some evil empire would attack Europe makes for good movies, but that’s about it.

 

I think it fair to say that the US is the primary cause of most of the world’s problems and virtually all the world’s wars.

[rgraham]

Hate to see tensions like this building while I am here in Moscow!

[mogandave]

Hate to see tensions like this building while I am here in Moscow!

South Carolina?

[Sydebolle]

Call me an old fart but I remember vividly, how much work, time, money and patience was necessary to get that particular deal done and sealed. 

Wondering what Gorbachev is making out of all this; without him there would have been no treaty and the Soviet Union might still breathe down the world's neck with fear, anxiety and threats. 

[Krataiboy]

18 hours ago, tomacht8 said:

Trump destroys all contracts of international cooperation. Paris climate protocol, Iran deal, existing trade agreements, etc. and threatened all forms of worldwide cooperation.

But he has not achieved anything new or better.

An inflated clown without content.

A welcome spanner in the globalist works.

[jany123]

48 minutes ago, Krataiboy said:

A welcome spanner in the globalist works.

More like a monkeys wrench, innit?

[Baerboxer]

19 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

And thereby opens the door to Russia developing new  weapons hitherto banned under the agreement 

 

Which they would've done anyway.

[Baerboxer]

4 hours ago, mogandave said:

 

Europe does not need the US to protect it. If anything, they need protection FROM the US.

 

The idea that some evil empire would attack Europe makes for good movies, but that’s about it.

 

I think it fair to say that the US is the primary cause of most of the world’s problems and virtually all the world’s wars.

 

You should do some serious research on the strength of armed forces in European countries; and the strength of potential conflict countries e.g. Russia, Turkey (NATO means bugger all to Erdogwan). 

 

Russia took Crimea back, was never really Ukrainian to start with but also pokes about in Ukraine, Georgia and other former Soviet states. If you think Vlad and his boys would shy away from military conflict with European opposition minus US support, your're very misinformed.

Edited August 3, 2019 by Baerboxer

[mogandave]

 

Which they would've done anyway.

 

I doubt that. What does Russia gain by reneging on the agreement at this point?

 

As I understand it, they (Russia) have maintained strict compliance.

[metisdead]

A post containing a trolling representation of Trump's name has been removed.  If you do not want your posts to be removed, spell people's names correctly. 

[Russell17au]

54 minutes ago, jany123 said:

More like a monkeys wrench, innit?

I find your comment quite insulting and you should be ashamed of yourself to link our ancestry (through evolution) with a person like that which would tear up any contract or agreement when it suits him. The credibility of the US has been thrown out the window as how could you trust them anymore because under this baboon (sorry monkeys) no contract or agreement is any guarantee of being honored by the US. 

Edited August 3, 2019 by Russell17au

[Krataiboy]

1 hour ago, jany123 said:

More like a monkeys wrench, innit?

Whatever works.

[Morch]

7 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

If

 

NATO seems to agree with the assessments - even if they don't like the outcome and the implications. You may want to check previous topics discussing this, as there were several informative articles linked on the issues (some very detailed).