US withdrawing from Cold War nuclear arms control treaty with Russia

The U.S. is withdrawing from a historic Cold War-era nuclear arms control treaty because of Russia's ongoing violations, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Friday.

The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces, or INF, Treaty has been central to limiting the kinds of nuclear weapons both countries can deploy, and without it, experts fear there will be a new nuclear arms race.

Pompeo first announced the U.S. intention to withdraw in December, giving Russia a 60-day window to come back into compliance, and that window runs out on Saturday. Withdrawal now requires an additional six-month window, according to the treaty's terms. The agreement, signed by President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, banned ground-launched cruise missiles with a range between 310 and 3,100 miles.

President Donald Trump issued a statement saying Russia had violated the INF Treaty with "impunity, covertly developing and fielding a prohibited missile system that poses a direct threat to our allies and troops abroad."

The U.S. first accused Russia of violating the pact in 2014, but Russia first denied it possessed the weapon in violation and then later said that weapon didn't violate the treaty's terms.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Friday Russia regrets the U.S. decision and accused the U.S. of being "unwilling to hold any substantial talks."

But the top U.S. diplomat for arms control had met with Russia repeatedly in the last two months, saying after each meeting that Russia continued to deny its deployment and the U.S. had no other choice.

"Our NATO Allies fully support us, because they understand the threat posed by Russia's violation and the risks to arms control posed by ignoring treaty violations," Trump said in his statement.

This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

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from ABC News: Politics https://abcn.ws/2RwNoit

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