US, Russia rip up INF missile treaty

BANGKOK/BRUSSELS - The United States and Russia ripped up a Cold War-era missile pact on Friday, in a move that raised the specter of an arms race between the global superpowers.

The 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty limited the use of medium-range missiles, both conventional and nuclear.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Washington's formal withdrawal in a prepared statement at a regional forum in Bangkok, minutes after Russia pronounced the treaty to be "dead".

Both sides had signaled their intention to pull out of the treaty for months, trading accusations of breaking the terms of the deal.

"Russia is solely responsible for the treaty's demise," Pompeo said in a statement issued at an Association of Southeast Asian Nations foreign ministers' meeting.

Shortly before Pompeo's announcement, Russia's Foreign Ministry in Moscow said the deal had been terminated "at the initiative of the US".

But Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov also urged the US to implement a moratorium on deploying intermediate-range nuclear missiles after leaving the INF.

The INF treaty limits the use of missiles with ranges of 500 to 5,500 kilometers.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had said that "the world will lose an invaluable brake on nuclear war" when the 1987 treaty expires on Friday.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas had also warned that the expiry of the INF treaty could result in a new nuclear arms race.

In a statement on Thursday, Maas said the expiry of the treaty on Friday meant Europe was "losing part of its security". "I am convinced that today we must again succeed in agreeing with rules on disarmament and arms control in order to prevent a new nuclear arms race," Maas said.

The 29-country NATO alliance rallied behind Washington on Friday, blaming Russia for the treaty's demise and vowing to respond.

The White House launched a six-month withdrawal procedure for leaving the treaty in February.

On Feb 2, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia would suspend its participation in the INF treaty in response to the US withdrawal from the pact.

Last month, Putin signed into law a bill suspending the country's participation in the treaty.

Signed in 1987 by then US president Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, the INF treaty was considered a cornerstone of the global arms control architecture.

The INF deal was seen as one of two key arms deals between Russia and the US - the other being the New START treaty, which keeps the nuclear arsenals of both countries well below their Cold War peak.

That deal expires in 2021 and there appears to be little political will from the US or Russia to renew it.

The demise of the INF has sparked fears of a new era of weapons development between the two heavyweights.

The US and Russia own more than 90 percent of global nuclear stockpiles, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.

Agencies - Xinhua

(China Daily 08/03/2019 page8)