The New York Times reports that the Trump administration is expected to tell Russia that the US intends to leave the I.N.F treaty.
President Trump is reportedly poised to sign off on the U.S. withdrawal from a decades-old arms treaty with Russia.
According to the New York Times, the Trump administration intends to inform Russia next week that it is pulling out of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which had been agreed to by Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev in 1986.
The pact imposes a ban on land-based missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers or 310 to 3,418 miles.
And while it was effective in reducing stockpiles and helping the U.S. and Russia come together in the wake of the Cold War ending, both countries have accused the other of violating the agreement in the past.
The Obama administration agreed to maintain the agreement amid pressure from European allies.
Now, top officials have started to speak out about the issues, with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis saying earlier this month, "Russia must return to compliance with the I.N.F. Treaty or the U.S. will need to respond to its cavalier disregard for the treaty's specific limits. The current situation with Russia in blatant violation of this treaty is untenable."
Another factor is China which is not a signatory of the pact, and therefore, not bound by its missile-limiting mandates.
The Washington Post reports that national security adviser John Bolton, who is said to be one of the driving forces behind leaving the I.N.F., has raised concerns that it puts the U.S. "in an 'excessively weak position' against Russia 'and more importantly China.'"
Bolton is expected to communicate the Trump administration's position during a forthcoming trip to Moscow.
