President Trump said Saturday he will withdraw the U.S. from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, contending that Russia “violated the agreement” and raising the prospect of developing a new set of weapons.

"They have been violating it for many years,” Mr. Trump said after a campaign rally in Nevada. “And we’re not going to let them violate a nuclear agreement and go out and do weapons and we’re not allowed to.” </s> WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump’s decision to pull the U.S. from an arms control agreement with Russia (all times local):

Britain’s defense secretary says his country stands “absolutely resolute” with the United States as President Donald Trump says he’ll pull out from a landmark arms control agreement with Russia.

Gavin Williamson blames Russia for endangering the treaty. He’s calling on the Kremlin to “get its house in order.”

Trump says he’ll exit the agreement because Russia has violated it “for many years” and it’s preventing the U.S. from developing new weapons.

Backing Trump, Williamson tells the Financial Times that Moscow has made a “mockery” of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.

The 1987 pact prohibits 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

A top Russian diplomat says President Donald Trump’s intention to withdraw from a landmark treaty on nuclear weapons is a perilous move.

And a Russian senator says the U.S. move to leave the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces treaty would undermine nuclear nonproliferation efforts.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was quoted as telling state news agency Tass that “this would be a very dangerous step.”

He says the move “will cause the most serious condemnation from all members of the international community who are committed to security and stability.”

Konstatin Kosachev is head of the foreign affairs committee in Russia’s upper house of parliament. He says on Facebook that a U.S. withdrawal from the treaty would mean “mankind is facing full chaos in the nuclear weapons sphere.”

President Donald Trump says he will exit a landmark arms control agreement the United States signed with the former Soviet Union. He says Russia is violating the pact and it’s preventing the U.S. from developing new weapons.

The 1987 pact helps protect the security of the U.S. and its allies in Europe and the Far East. It prohibits 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.

Trump is saying that “Russia has violated the agreement. They have been violating it for many years.”

The agreement has constrained the U.S. from developing new weapons, but Trump said America will begin developing them unless Russia and China agree not to possess or develop the weapons. </s> Washington: Following in the footsteps of the United States, Russia will abandon a centrepiece nuclear arms treaty but will only deploy intermediate-range nuclear missiles if Washington does so, President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday.

US President Donald Trump accused Moscow of violating the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty with "impunity" by deploying banned missiles.

Trump said in a statement that the US will "move forward" with developing its own military response options to Russia's deployment of banned cruise missiles that could target Western Europe.

Moscow has strongly denied any breaches and accused Washington of making false accusations in order to justify its pullout. </s> US president Donald Trump said the United States will exit the Cold-War era Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty that eliminated a class of nuclear weapons, in a move that is likely to upset Russia.

The INF treaty, negotiated by then-president Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and ratified by the US Senate in 1988, required elimination of short-range and intermediate-range nuclear and conventional missiles by both countries.

“Russia has not, unfortunately, honoured the agreement so we’re going to terminate the agreement and we’re going to pull out,” Mr Trump told reporters after a rally in Nevada on Saturday.

Washington believes Moscow is developing and has deployed a ground-launched system in breach of the INF treaty that could allow Moscow to launch a nuclear strike on Europe at short notice. Russia has consistently denied any such violation.

Mr Trump said the United States will develop the weapons unless Russia and China agree to a halt on development.

China is not a party to the treaty and has invested heavily in conventional missiles as part of an anti-access/area denial strategy, while the INF has banned US possession of ground- launched ballistic missiles or cruise missiles of ranges between 500 and 5,500 km . </s> President Donald Trump said on Saturday the United States will exit the Cold-War era treaty that eliminated a class of nuclear weapons due to Russian violations, a move an official in Moscow called a dangerous attempt at blackmail.

ELKO, Nev/MOSCOW: President Donald Trump said Washington will exit the Cold-War era treaty that eliminated a class of nuclear weapons due to Russian violations, triggering a warning of retaliatory measures from Moscow.

The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, negotiated by then-President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1987, required elimination of land-based short-range and intermediate-range nuclear and conventional missiles by both countries.

"Russia has not, unfortunately, honoured the agreement so we're going to terminate the agreement and we're going to pull out," Trump told reporters on Saturday after a rally in Nevada.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Sunday that a unilateral U.S. withdrawal would be "very dangerous" and lead to a "military-technical" retaliation.

Gorbachev, now a frail 87-year-old, said it would be a mistake for Washington to quit the treaty, and that it would undermine work he and U.S. counterparts did to end the Cold War Arms race.

"Do they really not understand in Washington what this could lead to?" Interfax news agency quoted Gorbachev as saying.

A Kremlin spokesman said Russian President Vladimir Putin would seek answers about the planned withdrawal when he meets John Bolton, Trump's national security adviser, for scheduled talks in Moscow this week.

U.S. authorities believe Moscow is developing and has deployed a ground-launched system in breach of the INF treaty that could allow it to launch a nuclear strike on Europe at short notice. Russia has consistently denied any such violation.

Trump said the United States will develop the weapons unless Russia and China agree to a halt on development.

China is not a party to the treaty and has invested heavily in conventional missiles, while the INF has banned U.S possession of ground-launched ballistic missiles or cruise missiles of ranges between 500 and 5,500 km (311 and 3,418 miles).

Ryabkov, in comments reported by state-controlled RIA news agency, said if the United States withdrew, Russia would have no choice but to retaliate, including taking unspecified measures of a "military-technical nature".

"But we would rather things did not get that far," RIA quoted him as saying.

TASS news agency quoted him as saying withdrawal "would be a very dangerous step", and it was Washington and not Moscow that was failing to comply with the treaty.

He said the Trump administration was using the treaty in an attempt to blackmail the Kremlin, putting global security at risk. "...We will, of course, accept no ultimatums or blackmail methods," Interfax quoted him as saying.

British defence minister Gavin Williamson, in comments reported by the Financial Times, said London stood "resolute" behind Washington over the issue, and that the Kremlin was making a mockery of the agreement.

However, another of the United States' NATO allies, Germany, voiced misgivings.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said that for 30 years the treaty had been a pillar of Europe's security architecture. "We now urge the United States to consider the possible consequences," of quitting the pact, Maas said in a statement issued on Sunday. </s> Moscow: The United States on Friday formally abandoned the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty with Russia, a statement from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, accusing Moscow of deliberately violating the Cold War-era arms pact.

"The US withdrawal... of the treaty takes effect today," Pompeo said on a visit to Bangkok for a regional summit.

"Russia is solely responsible for the treaty's demise." </s> The United States announced Friday that it will withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty with Russia, an agreement that dates back to the Cold War.

The US will suspend its obligations under the 1987 pact on Saturday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said. </s> President Donald Trump has announced that the US will pull out of a landmark Cold War-era arms control treaty with Russia that limited the number of missiles in the two nations, accusing Moscow of violating the deal.

The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty was one of those agreements and is set to expire in the next two years. The 1987 pact helps protect the security of the US and its allies in Europe and the Far East.

It prohibits the US and Russia from possessing, producing or test-flying a ground-launched cruise missile with a range of 300 to 3,400 miles. It also covers all land-based missiles, including those carrying nuclear warheads.

“We’re going to terminate the agreement and we’re going to pull out,” Trump told reporters Saturday in Nevada when asked about the reports that his National Security Advisor John Bolton wants the US to pull out of the three-decade-old treaty.

“We’ll have to develop those weapons,” he said.

The INF treaty was signed between the then US president Ronald Reagan and his USSR counterpart Mikhail Gorbachev in 1987 on the elimination of intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles.

The Pentagon has been supportive of the INF treaty but Defense Secretary James Mattis warned other NATO ministers earlier this month it would no longer be tenable if Russia did not withdraw its Novator ground-based missile, which the US has argued for nearly four years violates the INF range restrictions.

“We are going to terminate the agreement and then we are going to develop the weapons,” unless Russia and China agree to a new deal, the US president said.

“Russia has violated the agreement. They have been violating it for many years,” Trump said.

He asserted that the US is “not going to let them violate a nuclear agreement and go out and do weapons and we’re not allowed to”.

“We’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,” Trump asserted.

He said the US will not adhere to the agreement, unless others were violating it.

Trump alleged that his predecessor Barack Obama had kept quite on this. “I don’t know why president Obama didn’t negotiate or pull out. And we’re not going to let them violate a nuclear agreement and go out and do weapons and we’re not allowed to,” he said.

“We’re the ones that have stayed in the agreement and we’ve honoured the agreement.

“If 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,” the US president said.

Russia’s Deputy Foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said Sunday the US’ withdrawal from the treaty would be a dangerous step.

“This would be a very dangerous step that, I’m sure, not only will not be comprehended by the international community but will provoke serious condemnation,” Ryabkov told TASS state news agency. </s> Aug. 2 (UPI) -- The United States has officially abandoned a Cold War-era nuclear weapons pact with Russia -- a groundbreaking agreement when it was brokered by former President Ronald Reagan -- because officials say Moscow broke the deal years ago and never came back.

The Trump administration said in February it was planning to leave the 1987 accord and gave Russia six months to return to compliance with the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty.

The treaty signed by Reagan and the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev prohibited intermediate-range land-based cruise and ballistic missiles.

"The U.S. gave Russia six months to return to compliance with the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted Friday. "Russia refused, so the treaty ends today.

"The U.S. will not remain party to a treaty when others violate it. Russia bears sole responsibility."

The Russian foreign ministry acknowledged the INF treaty was dead.

"At the initiative of the American side, the operation of the treaty between the Soviet Union and the United States on the elimination of intermediate and shorter range missiles signed in Washington on December 8, 1987 was terminated," it said Friday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law last month suspending Russia's participation in the deal.

The U.S. threat to withdraw followed disclosures by NATO that a new Russian missile system had violated the treaty. U.S. officials said Moscow also violated the deal in 2013 with its development of the 9M729 missile system.

Putin, however, denies Russia has ever breached the arms agreement.

The last major arms deal between the two nations, the New START treaty, expires in two years.
U.S. President Donald Trump says that the United States will withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, a 1987 nuclear arms treaty with Russia.