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Old 10-21-2018, 06:37 AM
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Arrow President Trump says US will pull out of nuclear agreement with Russia

President Trump says US will pull out of nuclear agreement with Russia
By: ABC 10-21-18 22 min. ago
RE: https://abc7ny.com/politics/trump-sa...ussia/4529320/

ELKO, Nevada -- President Donald Trump says his intention to scrap a landmark arms control agreement Russia follows years of violations by Moscow in developing prohibited weapons, and "we're not going to be the only one to adhere to it." The Kremlin said the pullout "would be a very dangerous step."

The 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty helps protect the security of the U.S. and its allies in Europe and the Far East. It bars 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.

"Russia has violated the agreement. They have been violating it for many years," Trump said Saturday after a rally in Elko, 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."

The agreement has constrained the U.S. from developing new weapons, but America will begin developing them unless Russia and China agree not to possess or develop the weapons, Trump said. China is not a party to the pact.

"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," he said.

Trump is sending his national security adviser, John Bolton, to Moscow for meetings with Russian leaders, including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev, and was expected to relay the news about Trump's decision.

"This would be a very dangerous step," Russia's deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, was quoted as telling state news agency Tass on Sunday. He said a U.S. withdrawal "will cause the most serious condemnation from all members of the international community who are committed to security and stability."

But Britain's defense secretary, Gavin Williamson, said his country stands "absolutely resolute" with the United States on the treaty dispute. Williamson blamed Russia for endangering the arms control pact and he called on the Kremlin to "get its house in order."

Williamson told the Financial Times on Sunday that Moscow had made a "mockery" of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.

U.S.-Russia relations already are strained as a result of the Ukrainian crisis, the war in Syria and allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential race and upcoming U.S. midterm elections.

Trump did not provide details about violations. But in 2017, White House national security officials said Russia had deployed a cruise missile in violation of the treaty. Earlier, the Obama administration accused the Russians of violating the pact by developing and testing a prohibited cruise missile.

Russia has repeatedly denied that it has violated the treaty and has accused the United States of not being in compliance.

Defense Secretary James Mattis has previously suggested that a Trump administration proposal to add a sea-launched cruise missile to America's nuclear arsenal could provide the U.S. with leverage to try to persuade Russia to come back in line on the arms treaty.

Russia's Foreign Ministry said in February that the country would only consider using nuclear weapons in response to an attack involving nuclear or other weapons of mass destruction, or in response to a non-nuclear assault that endangered the survival of the Russian nation.

An independent Russian political analyst, Dmitry Oreshkin, said, "We are slowly slipping back to the situation of cold war as it was at the end of the Soviet Union, with quite similar consequences, but now it could be worse because (Russian President Vladimir) Putin belongs to a generation that had no war under its belt."

Trump's decision could prove controversial with European allies and others who see value in the treaty, said Steven Pifer, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine and now a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who focuses on nuclear arms control.

"Once the United States withdraws from the treaty, there is no reason for Russia to even pretend it is observing the limits," he wrote in a post on the organization's website. "Moscow will be free to deploy the 9M729 cruise missile, and an intermediate-range ballistic missile if it wants, without any restraint."

U.S. officials have previously alleged that Russia violated the treaty by deliberately deploying a land-based cruise missile in order to pose a threat to NATO. Russia has claimed that U.S. missile defenses violate the pact.

In the past, the Obama administration worked to convince Moscow to respect the INF treaty but made little progress.

"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," Trump said.
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O Almighty Lord God, who neither slumberest nor sleepest; Protect and assist, we beseech thee, all those who at home or abroad, by land, by sea, or in the air, are serving this country, that they, being armed with thy defence, may be preserved evermore in all perils; and being filled with wisdom and girded with strength, may do their duty to thy honour and glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

"IN GOD WE TRUST"
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Old 10-21-2018, 06:40 AM
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Arrow U.S. To End Cold War-Era Nuclear Arms Treaty With Russia, Trump Says

U.S. To End Cold War-Era Nuclear Arms Treaty With Russia, Trump Says
By: James Doubek - October 21, 20187:00 AM ET
RE: https://www.npr.org/2018/10/21/65927...sia-trump-says

President Trump said the U.S. will withdraw from a decades-old treaty with Russia that eliminated a class of nuclear weapons after he accused Russia of violating the treaty.

"We're the ones that have stayed in the agreement and we've honored the agreement, but Russia has not unfortunately honored the agreement," Trump told reporters in Nevada, "so we're going to terminate the agreement, we're going to pull out."

Signed by President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1987, the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty banned the U.S. and Soviet Union from having "ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges of between 500 and 5,500 kilometers," and required the destruction of the missiles, launchers and "associated support structures and support equipment," according to the State Department.

The two countries eliminated 2,692 missiles after the treaty's "entry-into-force" in 1988, the agency says.

For several years, U.S. officials have accused Russia of violating the agreement.

General Paul Selva, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs, told Congress in March 2017 that military officials "believe that the Russians have deployed a land-based cruise missile that violates the spirit and intent" of the treaty.

The Obama administration said Russia violated the INF treaty in 2014 by testing a ground-launched cruise missile. But the Obama administration "chose not to leave the agreement because of objections from the Europeans — particularly Germany — and out of concern that it would rekindle an arms race," The New York Times noted.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told the state-owned Tass news that withdrawal from the treaty "would be a very dangerous step, which, I'm sure, won't be just understood by the international community, but arouse serious condemnation of all members of the world community, who are committed to security and stability and are ready to work on strengthening the current regimes in arms control."

In the 1960s, the U.S. had more than 30,000 nuclear warheads, which came down to about 22,000 in 1989 and as of last year was about 4,480 nuclear weapons — 1,740 of which are deployed, NPR's Philip Ewing reported.

The end of the INF treaty "could spell doom" for the New START Treaty, as NPR's David Welna noted of the big remaining arms reduction agreement with Russia, which was signed in 2010. New START includes a limit to 1,550 nuclear warheads on deployed intercontinental ballistic missiles for each country.

Trump national security adviser John Bolton is traveling to Moscow this week and will reportedly tell Russian President Vladimir Putin that the U.S. plans to leave the treaty.
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Boats

O Almighty Lord God, who neither slumberest nor sleepest; Protect and assist, we beseech thee, all those who at home or abroad, by land, by sea, or in the air, are serving this country, that they, being armed with thy defence, may be preserved evermore in all perils; and being filled with wisdom and girded with strength, may do their duty to thy honour and glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

"IN GOD WE TRUST"
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