What is the future of Europe? Get local insights from Lisbon to Moscow with an unrivalled network of journalists across Europe, expert analysis, our dedicated ‘Brussels Briefing’ newsletter. Customise your myFT page to track the countries of your choice.<doc-sep>Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said US still wanted to engage in arms control negotiations with Russia. The United States said Friday it was withdrawing from the landmark Cold War INF missile treaty with Russia, saying Moscow was in violation. Ahead of a deadline set by Washington, the United States said that Russia had not addressed concerns over a new medium-range missile system that Western states believe goes against the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. Effective Saturday, "the United States will suspend its obligations under the INF Treaty and begin the process of withdrawing from the INF Treaty, which will be completed in six months unless Russia comes back into compliance by destroying all of its violating missiles, launchers and associated equipment," President Donald Trump said in a statement. "The United States has fully adhered to the INF Treaty for more than 30 years, but we will not remain constrained by its terms while Russia misrepresents its actions," Trump said. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, announcing the decision at a news conference, said that Washington still wanted to engage in arms control negotiations with Russia and hoped Moscow would come into compliance. "The United States is hopeful that we can put our relationship with Russia back on better footing, but the onus is on Russia to change course from a pattern of destabilizing activity, not just on this issue but on many others as well," Pompeo said.<doc-sep>The withdrawal also signals the increasing peril treaties face in a Trump administration that emphasizes national sovereignty over international cooperation. In addition to withdrawing from the INF Treaty, Trump has also left the Iran nuclear deal and Paris climate accord and threatened to pull out of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and World Trade Organization. His withdrawal from the INF Treaty has fueled concerns that he will decline to extend the main nuclear arms treaty with Russia and risk a return to the early days of the nuclear arms race.<doc-sep>Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Friday that the U.S. is pulling out of a major arms-control treaty with Russia. Citing alleged violations by Russia regarding the pact that's been a centerpiece of arms control since the Cold War, Pompeo said the U.S. is suspending its obligations and will terminate the deal entirely if Russia does not return to full compliance in six months. POMPEO CONFIDENT OF TRUMP-KIM SUMMIT He said the U.S. "has fully adhered" to the pact for more than 30 years, "but we will not remain constrained by its terms while Russia misrepresents its actions. We cannot be the only country in the world unilaterally bound by this treaty, or any other." The American withdrawal had been expected. It follows years of unresolved disputes over Russian compliance with the 1987 pact, known as the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces, or INF, treaty. It was the first arms control measure to ban an entire class of weapons: ground-launched cruise missiles with a range between 310 miles and 3,400 miles. Russia denies that it has been in violation. 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. RUSSIA DEPLOYS NUCLEAR-CAPABLE MISSILE LAUNCHERS Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, backed the Trump administration after Friday's announcement. “I support the withdrawal of the United States from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. ... For the past several years, the Russian government has systematically violated the INF Treaty and deployed systems that undermine the stability that the treaty helped create. Russian actions represent a material breach of the treaty, and it is abundantly clear: the United States is the only country limited by the INF Treaty," he said in a statement. “The Russian government has had endless opportunities to change their bad behavior, and over the past 60 days has proven its disinterest in doing so. The time has come to set the treaty aside and develop alternative avenues toward the security the treaty once provided.” NATO also said Russia is in breach of the pact, urging Moscow to come back into compliance during the six months that remain before the United States abandons it. NATO said that if Moscow fails to destroy all new missile systems that Washington insists violate the treaty, "Russia will bear sole responsibility for the end of the treaty." The Associated Press contributed to this report.<doc-sep>
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Friday that the United States is ready to withdraw from a crucial nuclear weapons treaty with Russia on Saturday, a move that has sparked concerns of a budding arms race between the world's two biggest nuclear powers. The announcement comes a day after Russia and the United States said that discussions to save the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty had failed. "Tomorrow, the United States will suspend its obligations under the INF Treaty and begin the process of withdrawing ... which will be completed in six months unless Russia comes back into compliance by destroying all of its violating missiles, launchers, and associated equipment," Trump said in a statement. "We cannot be the only country in the world unilaterally bound by this treaty, or any other. We will move forward with developing our own military response options and will work with NATO and our other allies and partners to deny Russia any military advantage from its unlawful conduct," Trump added. The INF treaty, signed in 1987 by President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, prohibited the development and deployment of ground-launched nuclear missiles with ranges of 310 miles to 3,420 miles. The agreement forced each country to dismantle more than 2,500 missiles and kept nuclear-tipped cruise missiles off the European continent for three decades. In October, Trump said the U.S. would withdraw from the Cold War-era pact and sent national security advisor John Bolton to personally deliver the decision to the Kremlin. Russia, Trump said, has violated the arms agreement by building and fielding the banned weapons "for many years." In December, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo cited material evidence that Russia has quietly added nuclear-tipped missiles that are currently banned by the treaty to its colossal arsenal. He said Russia has developed "multiple battalions of the SSC-8 missiles," a move that falls outside the arms agreement. "Its range makes it a direct menace to Europe," he said after a meeting with his NATO counterparts. Pompeo then offered Russia an ultimatum: Come into compliance of the agreement within 60 days or the United States will exit the weapons pact. NATO also called on Moscow to "return urgently to full and verifiable compliance." "It is now up to Russia to preserve the INF Treaty," NATO foreign ministers said in a joint statement.