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01st Feb 2019

Trump has suspended America’s nuclear treaty with Russia

Rory Cashin

Trump

It is the treaty that essentially ended the Cold War.

Back in 1987, U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev signed the INF Treaty in the East Room at the White House.

That treaty – the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty – required the United States and the Soviet Union to eliminate and permanently forswear all of their nuclear and conventional ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges of 500 to 5,500 kilometers.

It is essentially what helped end the Cold War, and as of Friday 1 February, U.S. President Donald Trump has decided to remove America from the treaty.

As per The New York Times:

“Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the decision on Friday as the Trump administration maintained that the Russian government has been unwilling to admit that a missile it has deployed near European borders violates the terms of the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.

“Mr. Pompeo and his deputies have insisted that Moscow destroy the missile. Instead, the government of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia counter-accused the United States of violating the treaty’s terms because of the way in which it has deployed launchers for anti-ballistic missile systems in Europe.”

Pompeo told journalists at the White House, stating: “Countries must be held accountable when they break the rules. Russia has jeopardized the United States’ security interests, and we can no longer be restricted by the treaty while Russia shamelessly violates it.”

He continued, “There’s no mistaking that the Russians have chosen to not comply with this treaty and present the risk of continued arms growth in a way that they had committed to, back when they signed this treaty, that they would not do.”

“We hope they’ll come back into compliance.”

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