Donald Trump says he's been talking with Putin and China about a new nuclear pact as the US pulls out of landmark weapons treaty with Russia that was signed by Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev in 1987
President Donald Trump defended the decision to rip up a nuclear pact with Russia Friday, saying he intends for the U.S. to always be first in nuclear weaponry – but that both Russia and China have expressed a willingness to talk.
'We have new nuclear coming. I hate to tell that to people because it's devastating, but we always have to be in the lead. I hope to god you never have to use it,' Trump told reporters Friday as he left town for his New Jersey golf course.
'They weren't living up to their commitment,' Trump said of Russia, who his administration had warned must cease violations of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty or else the U.S. would withdraw.
'With Russia, we have been speaking to Russia about that, about a pact for nuclear. So that they get rid of some, we get rid of some. We'll probably have to put China in there,' Trump said, speaking about a potential future nuclear agreement he would consider.
'Right now we're Number 1, Russia is Number 2 and China is Number 3. China is quite a bit down in terms of nuclear. China's much lower. But we would certainly want to include China at some point,' the president said.
President Trump spoke about nuclear stockpiles on a day his administration pulled the U.S. out of an intermediate range nuclear treaty
Trump spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone this week. In his remarks he quickly diverted to bashing the Mueller probe.
'I would think that the relationship is good. We're trying to have a good relationship. It's very hard in light of the phony witch hunt, which is now dead. But I will say this with Russia. If we could get a pact where they reduce and we reduce nuclear, that would be a great thing for the world,' the president said.
Despite the disagreements with Moscow, 'I do believe that will happen,' Trump said. 'We have discussed it. I've also discussed it with China. I've discussed it with president Putin ... I will tell you, China was very, very excited about talking about it. And so is Russia. So I think we'll [at] some point.'
America and Russia have today torn up a nuclear arms treaty that was credited with helping to bring an end to the Cold War, sparking fears of a new arms race.
Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in 1987, but the pact is now 'dead' as both sides blamed the other for the deal's demise.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the blame lay solely with Moscow for developing a cruise missile which Washington argues violates the deal.
But Russia's foreign ministry accused America of cooking up a pretext to ditch a treaty it was planning on violating anyway after Washington announced plans to test a missile that was banned under the deal in the coming weeks.
'In Washington a serious mistake has been made,' the ministry said in a statement, adding that the US had run a 'propaganda campaign' accusing Russia of violating the deal.
The move has prompted fears of a new nuclear arms race between America and Russia, which could also drag in China.
Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in 1987, but the US walked away from the deal on Friday
Mike Pompeo told a security conference in Thailand that Russia is 'solely responsible' for the collapse of the treaty after developing a banned weapon, while Moscow pointed the finger at Washington
NATO joined America in blaming Russia for the deal's collapse, but said it has no desire to start a new arms race in Europe.
Moscow accused Washington of cooking up a pretext to abandon a deal it wanted to quit anyway, and called for a moratorium on testing new weapons.
Deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said: 'We have suggested to the US and other NATO members to consider announcing a moratorium on the deployment of intermediate-range missiles.'
'We don't want a new arms race, and we have no intention to deploy new land-based nuclear missiles in Europe,' NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg added.
Washington has for years accused Russia of developing a new type of missile, the 9M729, which it says violates the treaty - claims that NATO has backed up.
The missile has a range of about 1,500 kilometres (900 miles) according to NATO, though Moscow says it can only travel 480 kilometres.
Speaking at a security summit in Thiland, Pompeo added: 'Russia is solely responsible for the treaty's demise.'
'Russia failed to return to full and verified compliance through the destruction of its noncompliant missile system.
'The United States will not remain party to a treaty that is deliberately violated by Russia.
'Russia's noncompliance under the treaty jeopardizes U.S. supreme interests as Russia's development and fielding of a treaty-violating missile system represents a direct threat to the United States and our allies and partners.'
Senior administration officials said Russia had deployed 'multiple battalions' armed with the new cruise missile throughout its territory in violation of the pact, including in western Russia, 'with the ability to strike critical European targets.'
Russia denies the allegation, saying the missile's range puts it outside the treaty, and has accused the United States of inventing a false pretext to exit a treaty Washington wants to leave anyway.
Shortly before Pompeo's announcement, Russia's foreign ministry in Moscow said the deal had been terminated at the 'at the initiative of the US'.
Russia has also rejected a U.S. demand to destroy the new missile.
Now the only treaty placing any limits on the nuclear stockpiles of either country is the New START treaty, which is due to expire in 2021 and the Trump administration has said it may not renew.
America blames Russia for violating the treaty by developing this 9M729 cruise missile (pictured), and says that tearing up the deal is necessary so it can counter the threat
Protesters dressed as Trump and Putin with their hands over large red nuclear buttons demonstrate against the end of the deal in Berlin
There is now only one deal - New START - which regulates the nuclear stockpiles of Russia and America, and that is due to expire in 2021 (pictured, protesters in Berlin)
If that happens, there will be no legally binding limits on the world's two largest nuclear arsenals for the first time in nearly a half century.
U.S. officials argued that not only was Russia violating the treaty and developing prohibited weapons, but that China also was making similar non-compliant weapons, leaving the U.S. alone in complying with the ageing arms control pact.
Now, the U.S. is free to develop weapons systems that were previously banned. The U.S. is planning a test flight of such a weapon in coming weeks, according to a senior administration official, who was not authorized to publicly discuss the weapons development and spoke only on condition of anonymity.
The current Pentagon budget includes $48 million for research on potential military responses to the Russian violations of the INF treaty, but the options do not include a nuclear missile.
The official downplayed the test and said it was not meant as a provocation against Russia. Because the United States adhered to the treaty for 32 years, the United States is 'years away' from effectively deploying weapons previously banned under the agreement, the official said Thursday.
Arms control advocates still worry that America's exit from the INF treaty will lead the two nations to also scrap the larger New START treaty, which expires in early 2021.
'Pulling out of this treaty leaves New START as the only bilateral nuclear arms agreement between the U.S and Russia,' said physicist David Wright, co-director of the Global Security Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists.
If President Donald 'Trump pulls out of that treaty as well or allows it to lapse, it will be the first time since 1972 that the two countries will be operating without any mutual constraints on their nuclear forces.'
Trump hasn't committed to extending or replacing New START, which beginning in 2018 imposed limits on the number of U.S. and Russian long-range nuclear warheads and launchers.
Trump has called New START 'just another bad deal' made by the Obama administration, and Trump's national security adviser, John Bolton, said in June that it's unlikely the administration will agree to extend the treaty for five years, which could be done without legislative action in either capital.
The Trump administration thinks talks about extending New START are premature. The administration claims that with China's growing arsenal of nuclear warheads, Beijing can no longer be excluded from nuclear arms control agreements.
Trump has expressed a desire to negotiate a trilateral arms control deal signed by the U.S., Russia and China.
'We'll see what happens,' Trump told reporters at the White House on Thursday. 'I will say Russia would like to do something on a nuclear treaty and that's OK with me. They'd like to do something and so would I.'
The administration official said the U.S. has had regular discussions with the Russians and Chinese about the possibility of a three-way arms control agreement. Trump wants the agreement to address not just intermediate-range weapons, but 'all nuclear weapons,' the official said.
President Trump has also mulled walking away from the New START treaty, which is due for renewal in 2021. If that falls through, there would be no limits on the world's two biggest nuclear powers for the first time in half a century
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov urged the United States to observe a moratorium in using intermediate-range weapons.
'We invited the U.S. and other NATO countries to assess the possibility of declaring the same moratorium on deploying intermediate-range and shorter-range equipment as we have, the same moratorium Vladimir Putin declared, saying that Russia will refrain from deploying these systems when we acquire them unless the American equipment is deployed in certain regions,' he said in an interview with state news agency Tass.
European leaders are expected to react to Friday's demise of the INF with disappointment and concern.
'With the end of the INF treaty, a bit of security in Europe is being lost,' German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said this week. 'Now we call all the more on Russia and the U.S. to preserve the New START treaty as a cornerstone of worldwide arms control.
'Nuclear powers such as China must also face up to their responsibility on arms control - they have more weight in the world than at the time of the Cold War.'
Over its lifetime, the 1987 INF treaty led to the elimination of 2,692 U.S. and Soviet Union nuclear and conventional ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles. Until its demise, the treaty banned land-based missiles with a range between 500 and 5,500 kilometers (310 to 3,410 miles).
America has also complained that the deal hampers its ability to counter threats from China, which was never a signatory to the deal (pictured, a Chinese guided missile destroyer)
Pompeo said the U.S. first raised its concerns that Russia was violating the treaty in 2013 during the Obama administration. He said the U.S. tried for six years to prod Russia back into compliance.
In February, Trump determined that Moscow was in material breach of the treaty and the U.S. suspended its own obligations under the agreement. That started a six-month clock to get Russia back into compliance - time that ran out on Friday.
'As it has for many years, Russia chose to keep its non-compliant missile rather than going back into compliance with its treaty obligations,' Pompeo said. 'The United States will not remain party to a treaty that is deliberately violated by Russia.'
Donald Trump says he's been talking with Putin and China about a new nuclear pact as the US pulls out of landmark weapons treaty with Russia that was signed by Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev in 1987
![Donald Trump says he's been talking with Putin and China about a new nuclear pact as the US pulls out of landmark weapons treaty with Russia that was signed by Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev in 1987]()
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August 03, 2019
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