Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that if the United States exits the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty and starts developing weapons banned by it then his country will too.
Putin told reporters that the U.S. decision to leave the INF implies that U.S. authorities have decided that the country “has to have these weapons,” according to ABC. Russia’s response, Putin said, will be to “do the same.”
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday that the U.S. would suspend its obligations under the INF in 60 days if Russia does not comply with the treaty.{mosads}
The U.S. has accused Russia of violating the treaty for years, and on Tuesday Pompeo called it part of a broader pattern of “lawlessness” by Moscow.
NATO foreign ministers also formally concluded Tuesday that Russia was breaching the treaty with its development of new ground-based missile systems and urged Moscow to come back into compliance.
The nuclear arms pact was signed by former President Reagan and Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1987. The deal bans the deployment of intermediate-range conventional and nuclear ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles.
President Trump announced that he would be exiting the INF in October, a decision met with some criticism. Analysts generally agree that Russia has violated the treaty, but some have worried that U.S. withdrawal could spur an arms race.