Gorbachev says US withdrawal from INF undermines disarmament

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Force Treaty (INF) with then US president Ronald Reagan, said President Donald Trump's decision to exit the nuclear arms pact is a mistake and would undermine efforts of disarmament.

Earlier on Saturday, Trump accused Russia of not honoring the agreement and threatened to pull out.

"Russia has not, unfortunately, honored the agreement so we're going to terminate the agreement and we're going to pull out,” Trump told reporters on Saturday after a rally in Nevada.

Gorbachev, now 87 years old, said it would be a mistake for Washington to quit the treaty, and it would undermine the work he and his US counterparts did to end the Cold War Arms race.

"Do they really not understand in Washington what this could lead to?” Interfax news agency reported on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Russia's Deputy Foreign Ministry Sergei Ryabkov said that a unilateral withdrawal by the United States would be “very dangerous” and lead to a “military-technical” retaliation.

A Kremlin spokesman said Russian President Vladimir Putin would seek answers about the planned withdrawal when he meets John Bolton, Trump's national security adviser, who is in Moscow this week for talks.

US authorities believe Moscow is developing and has deployed a ground-launched system in breach of the INF treaty that could allow it to launch a nuclear strike on Europe at short notice. Russia has consistently denied any such violation.

(REUTERS)