U.S. to Suspend Nuclear Treaty With Russia in 60 Days

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo calls on Russia to take steps to comply with the accord in meantime.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Tuesday that the U.S. would suspend its obligations to the 1987 Treaty on Intermediate-range Nuclear Force in 60 days’ time unless Russia took steps to return to compliance.

The move was prefigured in October, when President Trump said the U.S. would withdraw from the INF Treaty, which prohibits the use of intermediate- and shorter-range rockets as well as testing, producing or fielding new ground-based missiles. The president said Russia had been violating the agreement “for many years.”

Mr. Pompeo said the U.S. would be free to develop and test a range of weapons if Russia failed to meet the deadline. He said Russia was in “flagrant violation” of the accord, citing cruise-missile tests as an example. Moscow has denied breaching the accord.

Mr. Pompeo’s statement, delivered at the Brussels headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, opened up the possibility of an intensified arms race between the U.S. and Russia at a time of tension between the two nuclear-armed rivals. Mr. Pompeo also noted that China and Iran aren’t parties to the INF, allowing them to develop missiles forbidden to the U.S. and Russia.

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