The Japan Times:
WASHINGTON – The U.S. plans to suspend its obligations under a 1987 nuclear weapons treaty with Russia after a deadline passes this weekend and the Trump administration inches closer to full withdrawal from a pillar of Cold War diplomacy, a White House official said Monday, in a move that could have dire implications for Japan.
Unless Russia destroys all its ground-launched cruise missiles, known as 9M729s, as well as associated equipment and launchers by Feb. 2, the U.S. will suspend its obligations under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, according to the official, who asked not to be identified because a decision hasn’t been announced.
The official did not say whether the U.S. would simultaneously announce a full withdrawal from the INF treaty, which would trigger a process that would take six months to complete. NATO officials have been preparing for a collapse of the accord for months.
