Russian President Vladimir Putin called for dialogue on Monday with United States on the key issue of the Treaty on Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF Treaty).

Iran Press/Europe: US president Donald Trump had mooted the idea of a US withdrawal from the INF Treaty in October. Speaking on Monday at a meeting on defence industry issues, President Putin said: "The US decision to withdraw from the INF treaty, certainly, cannot and will not remain without a response from our country", Russian news agencies reported.

Putin added: "I propose today to discuss our steps related to the possible withdrawal of the United States from the INF treaty. I emphasize again that we are ready to hold a dialogue with American partners on this key issue and we hope that they will regard this with full responsibility." 

In October, US President Donald Trump said that his country planned to leave the INF Treaty, accusing Russia of violating it numerous times, while the Kremlin rejected the accusations, adding that Russia would be forced to take countermeasures to ensure its security if the treaty was terminated by Washington.

Gorbachev and Reagan sign the INF Treaty, 8 December 1987

The INF Treaty is an agreement that the United States and the Soviet Union signed in December 1987. It prohibited either country from possessing, producing or flight-testing ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with a range of 500 to 5,500 kilometres and their launchers. 103

 

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