The Tribune – President Vladimir Putin suspended Russia’s participation in a nuclear arms treaty the Trump administration already decided to leave, alleging Monday that Washington and not Moscow was in violation of the 1987 pact.
In a decree, Putin suspended Russia’s obligations under the terms of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty and said hold would remain in place “until the U.S. ends its violations of the treaty or until it terminates.”
Putin’s order came as Gen. Valery Gerasimov, the head of the Russian military’s General Staff, was in Vienna for talks on strategic stability with U.S. Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The INF treaty was one of the issues discussed in what the Russia’s Defense Ministry described as “constructive” talks.
