US Leaving Arms Control Treaty With Russia
Feb 1, 2019, 7:07 AM | Updated: Jun 8, 2022, 5:15 pm
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo holds a news briefing at the State Department February 01, 2019 in Washington, DC. Citing Russia's violation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, Pompeo announced that the United States will withdraw in 180 days from the treaty, which has been a centerpiece of nuclear arms control since the Cold War. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON (AP) – Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has announced that the U.S. is pulling out of a treaty with Russia that’s been a centerpiece of arms control since the Cold War.
The American withdrawal had been expected for months. It follows years of unresolved dispute over Russian compliance with the 1987 pact, which bans certain ground-launched cruise missiles. Russia denies violating the treaty.
Pompeo says the U.S. will suspend its obligations to the treaty on Saturday. Pompeo says that if Russia doesn’t come into compliance, the treaty “will terminate.”
U.S. officials also have expressed concern that China, which isn’t part of the treaty, is deploying large numbers of missiles in Asia that the U.S. can’t counter because it’s bound by the treaty.
