Vice President Mike Pence and Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly discussed the Trump administration’s plans to exit a nuclear arms treaty during a brief…
Vice President Mike Pence and Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly discussed the Trump administration’s plans to exit a nuclear arms treaty during a brief meeting on Thursday in Singapore.
According to Reuters, Putin told reporters at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit that he discussed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty and Iran with Pence.
President Trump confirmed last month that he planned to withdraw from the treaty, which was struck during the Cold War. It bans nuclear and conventional ground-launch ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges between 300 and 3,400 miles.
The United States has accused Russia of violating the treaty since 2014, first by testing a banned missile and then by deploying the missiles.
Moscow denies the charge and says it the United States is violating the treaty with its missile defense systems in Europe.
Pence’s spokesperson said only that the vice president and Putin discussed the upcoming G20 Summit and the issues that Trump and Putin will be covering at the Argentina event, according to a reporter traveling with the vice president.
In August, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders highlighted the diplomatic importance of the G20 summit, which begins Nov. 30.
“The G20 Summit will be an opportunity for the President to highlight his pro-growth economic policies on an international stage and meet bilaterally with other key world leaders,” she said.
