President Donald Trump says his intention to scrap a landmark arms control agreement Russia follows years of violations by Moscow in developing prohibited weapons, and \u00ab\u00a0we’re not going to be the only one to adhere to it.\u00a0\u00bb The Kremlin said the pullout \u00ab\u00a0would be a very dangerous step.\u00a0\u00bb<\/b>
\nELKO, Nevada \u2014 President Donald Trump says his intention to scrap a landmark arms control agreement Russia follows years of violations by Moscow in developing prohibited weapons, and \u00ab\u00a0we’re not going to be the only one to adhere to it.\u00a0\u00bb The Kremlin said the pullout \u00ab\u00a0would be a very dangerous step.\u00a0\u00bb
Members of Congress offered no unified response, with reaction ranging from \u00ab\u00a0a big, big mistake\u00a0\u00bb to \u00ab\u00a0absolutely the right move.\u00a0\u00bb
A split emerged among U. S. allies in Europe: Britain said it stood \u00ab\u00a0absolutely resolute\u00a0\u00bb with the U. S., while Germany called Trump’s move \u00ab\u00a0regrettable.\u00a0\u00bb
The 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty helps protect the security of the U. S. and its allies in Europe and the Far East. It bars the United States and Russia from possessing, producing or test-flying a ground-launched cruise missile with a range of 300 miles to 3,400 miles.
\u00ab\u00a0Russia has violated the agreement. They have been violating it for many years,\u00a0\u00bb Trump said Saturday after a rally in Elko, Nevada. \u00ab\u00a0And we’re not going to let them violate a nuclear agreement and go out and do weapons and we’re not allowed to.\u00a0\u00bb
The agreement has constrained the U. S. from developing new weapons, but America will begin developing them unless Russia and China agree not to possess or develop the weapons, Trump said. China is not a party to the pact.
\u00ab\u00a0We’ll have to develop those weapons, unless Russia comes to us and China comes to us and they all come to us and say let’s really get smart and let’s none of us develop those weapons, but if Russia’s doing it and if China’s doing it, and we’re adhering to the agreement, that’s unacceptable,\u00a0\u00bb he said.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said it was \u00ab\u00a0a big, big mistake to flippantly get out of this historic agreement.\u00a0\u00bb He told \u00ab\u00a0Fox News Sunday\u00a0\u00bb that both sides accuse the other of violations, and he wants \u00ab\u00a0a rational discussion\u00a0\u00bb with experts to see if Washington and Moscow can settle their differences.
The chairman off the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said he hopes Trump’s step is just a negotiating maneuver. Sen. Bob Corker told CNN’s \u00ab\u00a0State of the Union\u00a0\u00bb that \u00ab\u00a0this could be something that’s just a precursor to trying to get Russia to come into compliance.\u00a0\u00bb
Corker, R-Tenn., said he hopes \u00ab\u00a0we’re going to be able to figure out a way to stay within the treaty.\u00a0\u00bb
But backing Trump was Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S. C., who said on Fox News: \u00ab\u00a0Absolutely the right move,\u00a0\u00bb adding that \u00ab\u00a0the Russians have been cheating.\u00a0\u00bb
Trump is sending his national security adviser, John Bolton, to Moscow for meetings with Russian leaders, including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev, and was expected to relay the news about Trump’s decision.
\u00ab\u00a0This would be a very dangerous step,\u00a0\u00bb Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, was quoted as telling state news agency Tass on Sunday. He said a U. S. withdrawal \u00ab\u00a0will cause the most serious condemnation from all members of the international community who are committed to security and stability.\u00a0\u00bb
Germany’s foreign minister, Heiko Maas, said Trump’s move was \u00ab\u00a0regrettable,\u00a0\u00bb the treaty was \u00ab\u00a0an important pillar of our European security architecture\u00a0\u00bb and a pullout \u00ab\u00a0raises difficult questions for us and Europe.\u00a0\u00bb Maas also said Germany has repeatedly urged Moscow to \u00ab\u00a0clear up the serious allegations of breaching the INF treaty, which Russia has so far not done.\u00a0\u00bb
But Britain’s defense secretary, Gavin Williamson, said his country stands \u00ab\u00a0absolutely resolute\u00a0\u00bb with the United States on the treaty dispute. Williamson blamed Russia for endangering the arms control pact and he called on the Kremlin to \u00ab\u00a0get its house in order.\u00a0\u00bb
Williamson told the Financial Times on Sunday that Moscow had made a \u00ab\u00a0mockery\u00a0\u00bb of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.
U. S.-Russia relations already are strained as a result of the Ukrainian crisis, the war in Syria and allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential race and upcoming U. S. midterm elections.
Trump did not provide details about violations. But in 2017, White House national security officials said Russia had deployed a cruise missile in violation of the treaty. Earlier, the Obama administration accused the Russians of violating the pact by developing and testing a prohibited cruise missile.
Russia has repeatedly denied that it has violated the treaty and has accused the United States of not being in compliance.
Defense Secretary James Mattis has previously suggested that a Trump administration proposal to add a sea-launched cruise missile to America’s nuclear arsenal could provide the U. S. with leverage to try to persuade Russia to come back in line on the arms treaty.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in February that the country would only consider using nuclear weapons in response to an attack involving nuclear or other weapons of mass destruction, or in response to a non-nuclear assault that endangered the survival of the Russian nation.
An independent Russian political analyst, Dmitry Oreshkin, said, \u00ab\u00a0We are slowly slipping back to the situation of cold war as it was at the end of the Soviet Union, with quite similar consequences, but now it could be worse because (Russian President Vladimir) Putin belongs to a generation that had no war under its belt.\u00a0\u00bb
Trump’s decision could prove controversial with European allies and others who see value in the treaty, said Steven Pifer, a former U. S. ambassador to Ukraine and now a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who focuses on nuclear arms control.
\u00ab\u00a0Once the United States withdraws from the treaty, there is no reason for Russia to even pretend it is observing the limits,\u00a0\u00bb he wrote in a post on the organization’s website. \u00ab\u00a0Moscow will be free to deploy the 9M729 cruise missile, and an intermediate-range ballistic missile if it wants, without any restraint.\u00a0\u00bb
U. S. officials have previously alleged that Russia violated the treaty by deliberately deploying a land-based cruise missile in order to pose a threat to NATO. Russia has claimed that U. S. missile defenses violate the pact.
In the past, the Obama administration worked to convince Moscow to respect the INF treaty but made little progress.
\u00ab\u00a0If they get smart and if others get smart and they say let’s not develop these horrible nuclear weapons, I would be extremely happy with that, but as long as somebody’s violating the agreement, we’re not going to be the only ones to adhere to it,\u00a0\u00bb Trump said.
___
Balsamo reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Deb Riechmann in Washington and Tanya Titova and James Heintz in Moscow contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

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