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US prepares to pull out from Cold War nuclear missile treaty with Russia

By Caoimhe Toman

Date: Thursday 17 Jan 2019

US prepares to pull out from Cold War nuclear missile treaty with Russia

(Sharecast News) - The US rejected an offer from Russia to inspect a controversial new missile, said it will not attend the review of the agreement in February and will prepare to pull out of the current nuclear-weapons treaty completely in six months.
The US had previously called for Russia to dismantle its 9M729 missile as it could potentially break the rules of the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty.

The fallout comes as the 60-day deadline appointed on 4 December by the US to review the ways in which Russia breaches the treaty comes to an end.

Andrea Thompson, US undersecretary for arms control and international security, said at a meeting in Geneva that Russia had to dismantle the missile and later confirmed the US intention to withdraw from the treaty after the failed talks.

"The ball is in Russia's court," she told reporters. "Disappointingly - but unsurprisingly - we weren't able to break any new ground," she added.

Sergei Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister, said on Wednesday that the US refused Moscow's proposals to inspect the 9M729 missile to prove it was not breaching any of the rules of the treaty.

"However, US representatives arrived with a prepared position that was based on an ultimatum and centred on a demand for us to destroy this rocket, its launchers, and all related equipment under US supervision," Lavrov said.

The US administration has been trying to make Russia consider its position on the missile since the Obama era although it had never before threatened to pull out of the treaty.

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