All news

Obama risked lives of Americans when abiding by INF Treaty, claims Pompeo

Obama restricted our military while Russia cheated and built up its systems, US Secretary of State said

WASHINGTON, January 11. /TASS/. Former US President Barack Obama was putting lives of Americans in danger when choosing to adhere to obligations assumed under the Russian-American Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty), US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said via Twitter Sunday.

"There were two parties to the INF Treaty. President Obama risked American lives by restricting our military while Russia cheated and built up its systems. When only one party to a two-party treaty is complying, that’s called stupid," the top US diplomat claimed.

On August 2, 2019, the United States formally withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, signed by the Soviet Union and the United States on December 8, 1987. 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). The US motivated its actions by Russia’s alleged refusal to comply with the American ultimatum-like demand that the new 9M729 cruise missiles be eliminated as violating the INF Treaty. Moscow vehemently dismissed all accusations, saying that the technical parameters of the 9M729 missiles are within the parameters allowed by the treaty and laid counterclaims to Washington.

However, then-National Security Advisor John Bolton later acknowledged that the US made this decision particularly because the treaty did not cover China.