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Former US Secretary of State calls withdrawal from INF Treaty a ‘giant mistake’

George Shultz called for enhancing international cooperation in order to carry out necessary changes in education, migration, national security, technology and economics

NEW YORK, November 1. /TASS/. US withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty was a giant mistake, former US Secretary of State George Shultz said in an interview with The New York Times.

"Withdrawing from the INF treaty was a giant mistake," said Shultz, who will turn 100 on December 13. "You lose not only the agreement itself, but you lose all those verification provisions that we worked so hard on."

Shultz, who served as the top US diplomat in 1982-1989, called for enhancing international cooperation in order to carry out necessary changes in education, migration, national security, technology and economics.

"We seem to be in an upset state of affairs where it’s hard to get things accomplished," he said, lamenting the Trump administration’s allergy to international accords. "They seem to be skeptical of these agreements, of any agreement. Agreements aren’t usually perfect. You don’t get everything you want. You compromise a little bit. But they’re way better than nothing."

Shultz did not hide that he hoped the Trump administration would seek to extend the New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) with Russia, which is due to expire in February 2021.

INF Treaty issue

The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, signed by the Soviet Union and the United States on December 8, 1987, took effect on June 1, 1988. It applied to deployed and non-deployed ground-based missiles of intermediate range (1,000-5,000 kilometers) and shorter range (500-1,000 kilometers). Washington repeatedly accused Russia of violating the accord, but Moscow vehemently dismissed all accusations and, in its turn, expressed grievances over Washington’s non-compliance.

On February 1, 2019, US President Donald Trump and US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo announced the suspension of Washington’s obligations under the INF starting on February 2. On February 2, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Moscow was also suspending the agreement. On August 2, 2019 Washington formally withdrew from the INF Treaty and the Russian Foreign Ministry, in turn, officially confirmed that the Treaty had been terminated at the United States’ initiative.