Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Friday that the U.S.will no longer comply with a landmark nuclear treaty with Russia, beginning as soon as Saturday
Pompeo says the U.S.will suspend its obligations to the treaty on Saturday.If Russia doesn't come into compliance, the treaty 'will terminate,' he said
Speaking at the State Department Friday, Pompeo said: 'For years Russia has violated the terms of the intermediate range nuclear forces treaty without remorse
'Russia has refused to take any steps to return real and verifiable compliance over these 60 days
The United States will therefore suspend its obligations under the INF treaty effective February 2nd
' In a statement issued on Friday, Trump suggested ties could improve markedly if Russia were willing to compromise on arms control, saying all sides must live up to such agreements
'We stand ready to engage with Russia on arms control negotiations .and, importantly, once that is done, develop, perhaps for the first time ever, an outstanding relationship on economic, trade, political, and military levels,' he said
The Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty, known as INF, bans the U.S.and Russia from having ground-launched missiles with ranges from 315 miles to 3,415 miles
The move could lead to the U.S.developing new nuclear weapons of the type which were stationed in Europe in the 1980s to huge public controversy - and potentially stationing them on the continent again
A senior official cited prior U.S.efforts to negotiate with Russia.'We have had a series of discussions at the highest levels,' the official said
'There was even an effort to arrange at highest level, President Putin and President Trump, that President Trump made the decision to cancel because of Russia's absolutely unlawful and flagrant violation of international law with respect to the of seizing 24 Ukrainian sailors,' the official said, referencing the cancelled formal meeting in Buenos Aires
Pompeo said the U.S.had fully adhered to the treaty for three decades.'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 nation's top diplomat added
Administration officials say the U.S.has made 35 diplomatic engagements with Russia to try to get it to come into compliance with the treaty
In theory it could come back into compliance during the review period, but U.S.officials are not predicting it will
'Russia will have this chance if they are truly interested in preserving the treaty, this is their final chance,' a senior administration official said during a briefing call with reporters Friday
'They know what they do.They know what they're doing is a violation,' said a senior administration official, dismissing Russia's denials
The U.S.side called off that formal meeting in protest of Russia's firing on Ukrainian vessels in the Kerch Straight incident
However, it was revealed this week that Trump and Putin did meet privately in Buenos Aires, speaking for up to 15 minutes, the Financial Times reported, citing a Russian government official
However the report did not state that they spoke about the missile treaty.A few hours before Pompeo's announcement, the NATO Western security alliance issued a statement saying it would "fully support" the U
S.withdrawal notice.Speaking before Pompeo's announcement, German Chancellor Angela Merkel emphasized the importance of using the six months window to keep talking
In the U.S.senator Bob Menendez, the senior Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, accused Trump failing to grasp the importance of arms control treaties or of having a wider strategy to control the spread of nuclear weapons
'Today´s withdrawal is yet another geo-strategic gift to Vladimir Putin,' he said
In Russia there was no immediate official response form the Kremin.'America really wants to develop new weapons systems which are in breach of this treaty,' Konstantin Kosachyov, senior Russian lawmaker, wrote on social media, saying the alleged Russian violation of the treaty had been a convenient pretext
The Trump administration had forecast its withdrawal from the 1987 pact, citing concerns that Russia wasn't honoring it and that it didn't include China, which has engaged in its own missile program
The move is to be communicated to Russia and former states that made up the Soviet Union on Saturday
The formal move kicks in a 60-day period, which will be followed by a six-month period to withdraw from the landmark Cold War agreement
Leaving the treaty would allow the U.S.to develop longer-range conventional land-based missiles than it currently has - but which China is currently developing because it was not part of the banning treaty
The treaty was signed in 1987 as a breakthrough in reducing nuclear tensions.It banned the U
S.and the then Soviet Union from having any medium-range ground-based missiles, whether nuclear or conventional, which led to the U
S.getting rid of its nuclear land-based cruise and Pershing II missiles - although it left long-range missiles intact
The treaty banned such ground-based weapons with a range of 310 to 3,400 miles Public protests greeted the medium-range missiles being stationed in Europe and the Soviets saw them as an escalation of Cold War tensions
Russia claims it is not in breach of the agreement.The pact has stood since then but in 2017 the U
S.accused Russia of flouting the pact by developing and deploying a new nuclear missile with a range of 1,500 miles
Russia denies that its Novator 9M729 is in breach of the treaty and claims that its range is within the pact's limits at 300 miles, but the U
S.says that it has been test fired over the far longer range.Russia accuses the U
S.of using the claims as a pretext to get out of the treaty and rejected demands to destroy its missile system
U.S.Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Andrea Thompson on Thursday held last-ditch talks with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov in Beijing ahead of the expiration of a U
S.60-day deadline for Moscow to come back into compliance with the treaty.Thompson and Ryabkov, who met on the sidelines of a 'P5' meeting of nuclear powers - the U
S, Russia, China, France and the UK - said afterwards that the two countries had failed to bridge their differences
In an interview, Thompson said she expected Washington to now stop complying with the treaty as soon as this weekend, a move she said would allow the U
S.military to immediately begin developing its own longer-range missiles if it chose to do so, raising the prospect they could be deployed in Europe
'We´ll be able to do that (suspend our treaty obligations) on Feb.2,' Thompson told Reuters
'We'll have an announcement made, follow all the steps that need to be taken on the treaty to suspend our obligations with the intent to withdraw
' The formal withdrawal process, once announced, takes six months.Stopping compliance with the treaty would untie the U
S.military's hands, she said.'We are then also able to conduct the R&D and work on the systems we haven't been able to use because we've been in compliance with the treaty,' said Thompson
'Come February 2, this weekend, if DoD (the U.S.Department of Defense) chooses to do that, they´ll be able to do that
' Washington remained open to further talks with Moscow about the treaty regardless, she added
Nuclear weapons experts at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said in a statement this week that while Russia's violation of the INF treaty is a serious problem, U
S.withdrawal under current circumstances would be counterproductive.'Leaving the INF treaty will unleash a new missile competition between the United States and Russia,' they said
Kingston Reif, director for disarmament at the Arms Control Association, said Thursday the Trump administration has failed to exhaust diplomatic options to save the treaty
What's more, 'it has no strategy to prevent Russia from building and fielding even more intermediate-range missiles in the absence of the agreement
' Reif said the period between now and August, when the U.S.withdrawal would take effect, offers a last chance to save the treaty, but he sees little prospect of that happening
He argues that John Bolton, the national security adviser to President Donald Trump, is 'unlikely to miss the opportunity to kill an agreement he has long despised
' Ryabkov said Moscow would continue working to try to reach agreement despite the failure of the talks, but accused Washington of ignoring Russian complaints about U
S.missiles and of adopting what he called a destructive position.'Unfortunately, there is no progress,' Rybakov said
Ryabkov called the US position 'rather tough, ultimatum-like' and 'destructive,' state news agency RIA Novosti reported
'We have not made any progress.We state this not just with sorrow, but with deep concern for the fate of the treaty, for the fate of European and international security,' Ryabkov said
During the conference with the other Security Council nations in Beijing, Ryabkov said bilateral dialogue was stalling on certain topics as one party was 'intentionally' refusing to pursue discussions - a thinly veiled reference to the United States
'Russia can't be blamed for anything.We are always ready for dialogue on all topics, including the most difficult current issues, and to be fully transparent
We expect our partners to take the same approach,' he said.Last week the Russian military displayed the nuclear-capable 9M729 missile system to the media and foreign military officials in an attempt to prove the weapon does not violate the treaty
Russia says the missile's maximum range is 480 kilometers (300 miles) and within the allowed range
Washington has however said a static display of the cruise missile does not prove its range does not breach the agreement
It ended a dangerous build-up of warheads in Europe but there are fears a similar situation could re-emerge
At the height of the Cold War, the U.S.had as many as 7,000 warheads deployed in Europe
However the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a Washington D.C.based think tank, now estimates that there are far fewer - 150 nuclear warheads, all of them on air-dropped unguided bombs
They are held in Belgium, Germany, Turkey, Italy and the Netherlands, the NTI reported
The INF did not ban long-range Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles.The U.S.has an arsenal of Minuteman missiles ready to launch from missile silos in Montana, North Dakota and Wyoming
But Russian concerns center on the possibility of the U.S.using bases in Poland to deploy short- to medium-range nuclear missiles
Poland has both asked the U.S.for a permanent presence, and allowed the U.S.to build a ground-based missile defense shield using Aegis technology
BreakingDefense.com reported that the Russians have claimed that the Aegis firing mechanism is essentially the same as the one used to launch Tomahawk conventional missiles from shops, and could be adapted to be turned into an offensive rather than defensive system
Russia itself has deployed short-range nuclear-capable rockets on its border with Poland in Kaliningrad
Their range of under 300 miles makes them compatible with the INF.The other source of U
S.concern over the treaty has been that it allowed China to develop the missile systems
HOW U.S.MISSILES LED TO PROTEST IN EUROPE IN THE 1980s - AND TOOK THE WORLD CLOSE TO THE NUCLEAR BRINK Both the U
S.and the Soviets expected that if they went to war, Europe would be their battleground
By the early 1980s, the U.S.under Ronald Reagan was outspending the Soviets and introducing dramatically improved new weapons in the air and on the ground
In particular, the Soviet SS-20 medium-range nuclear missiles, launched from mobile carriers, were seen as the biggest threat to NATO forces if there were to be an exchange of weapons
Nuclear missiles which could match their destructive power were a priority and the Pershing II was developed which could destroy underground bunkers and silos and reach Soviet territory in just six minutes - making them both undetectable and capable of largely killing off the Soviet ability to respond
But moving the missiles into the places where they would be used in battle created a whole new dimension of conflict for the U
S.and its NATO allies - this time with peace protesters who made their deployment the focus of their rage
Target: The land-based nuclear cruise missiles brought to the UK sparked public protests when they were deployed to the USAF base at Greenham Common west of London in 1983 Women's protests: Women formed a peace camp at Greenham Common from the time it was identified as the host for the cruise and Pershing missiles and remained there long afterwards
In December 1982 one of their protests was a human chain around its perimeter Blocking tactic: Anti nuclear protesters from the Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp tried to stop cruise missiles arriving by stopping access to its main gates Beginning in 1983, two deployments in particular were to become infamous flashpoints
In the UK, the U.S.Air Force base at Greenham Common, Berkshire, to the west of London, would be used for 160 medium-range nuclear cruise missiles, and a smaller number of Pershing II rockets
RAF Molesworth in Cambridgeshire would receive 64 cruise missiles.In Germany, three bases - Neu-Ulm, Mutlangen and Neckarsulm - would receive a total of 108 Pershing IIs
But in both countries the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament launched huge and widespread protests
Focus: The Perishing II missile was deployed in 1983 to German bases in the face of huge public anger, with demonstrations of hundreds of thousands who saw it as a threat to West Germany's existence Cold war welcome: In West Germany there were protests regularly against the missiles and their deployment
They entered active duty in 1983 and by 1987 a deal for their destruction was done In Germany, Mutlangen became the focal point, while in Greenham Common, a peace camp of women against nuclear weapons sprang up at the perimeter
Attempts to move munitions were met with sit-down protests on roads outside.In Bonn, then the capital of West Germany, as many as 400,000 people took part in one anti-Pershing protest, part of a day of demonstrations across Europe, while other protests saw a human chain from U
S.headquarters in Stuttgart to the gates of Mutlangen.1983 also saw one of the most dangerous moments of the Cold War when NATO's Able Archer war games, which involved activating troops and giving dummy instructions to fire nuclear weapons, were misunderstood by the Soviets
Soviet threat: An SS-20 preserved in Russia shows the weapon which the Pershing II and cruise missiles were designed to counter
The SS-20 rocket launched multiple warheads and could reach all of Western Europe from Soviet-controlled territory including East Germany They thought the exercise was really preparations for a first strike with the new Pershing arsenal part of the plan
The Soviets ordered its nuclear arsenal to be prepared for action and placed bombers on high alert
If NATO forces under U.S.command had moved to an increased state of readiness, the Soviets could well have launched their own nuclear weapons
Spy Oleg Gordiesky later wrote an account of the tense moments, which ended when Able Archer concluded on November 11 1983
What peace protesters had not realized was that behind the scenes, the U.S.had made an offer in the late 1970s to the Soviets, that if it agreed to get rid of its SS-20s, the U
S, would withdraw the Pershings and the cruise missiles.By 1986, the Soviet Union was lead by Mikhail Gorbachev, and a deal began to take shape
By September 1987, the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty was signed by Reagan and Gorbachev in Washington D
C.It eliminated all the weapons being protested against in the space of four years, leaving just a handful of mementos in museums
Now however, its future appears doomed.A Russian fighter jet has been filmed forcing a US F-15 to turn away and change course by flying dangerously close to the American aircraft
In footage circulating on Russian social media, the Su-27 fighter comes into frame and makes a sharp left to bank across the F-15 from the side
The US-made plane has no choice but to move out of the way as the Russian jet came within feet of hitting it
The Pentagon said that a Russian jet came dangerously close to one of its fighters over the Black Sea on Monday
It said the Russian aircraft intercepted a US Navy patrol plane in international airspace, coming within five feet of the American plane, according to CBS
Pentagon spokeswoman Captain Pamela Kunze said the Russian plane flew close to the plane for two hours and 40 minutes before crossing directly into its flight path
It's not known if it was the same incident shown in the footage, or just the latest in a series of close calls between Russian and U
S.aircraft over the Black Sea.The 40-second clip was uploaded to Twitter on Thursday but it's not known where the altercation took place
Commenters on social media claimed the manoeuvre was executed over the Baltic Sea as a part of a Baltic Air-policing mission
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