Washington and Moscow announce the end of the Intermediate Nuclear Weapons Treaty

The United States and Russia have declared the end of the Intermediate Nuclear Weapons Treaty (NPT), with the two sides blaming each other for the collapse of the bilateral Cold War treaty. NATO has blamed Russia for ending the treaty.

In a surprise move, after six months of ineffective dialogue and mutual accusations of breach of the pact, the two powers allowed the expiration of the US administration's Donald Trump deadline in February without changing their positions.

"The withdrawal of the United States in line with article 15 of the agreement starts on Friday because Russia has not renewed its full and verifiable commitment to the treaty," US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement from Bangkok, where he is attending a regional summit.

This came minutes after the announcement by the Russian Foreign Ministry that the treaty had been concluded by an "initiative" from Washington, proposed in parallel to "a freeze on the deployment of medium-range missiles."

On another matter, Pompeo said that Washington will continue to apply sanctions on Iran.

Washington suspended early February its participation in the Intermediate Nuclear Weapons Treaty, accusing Moscow of manufacturing missiles that do not comply with the treaty's provisions. The suspension began with a six-month transitional period ending yesterday.

The medium-range nuclear missile treaty allowed it to use an average range of missiles (500 to 5,500 km) to dispose of the Russian SS-20 and Pershing missiles that were deployed in Europe.

"The United States has raised concerns for Russia since 2013," Pompeo said, referring to "full support" from NATO member states. But Moscow "systematically repulsed all six years of US efforts to get Russia to respect the text again," Pompeo said.

Pompeo is talking about the Russian missile 9M 729, which is a "direct threat," he said, saying to the Americans and their allies, while Russia confirms that the maximum range of these missiles is 480 kilometers.

The Russian minister said that during the past six months, the Russian authorities had not used the "last chance" to save the treaty.

But the many talks between the two sides since February in this context have not been fruitful.

The end of the Intermediate Nuclear Weapons Treaty threatens to launch a new arms race between the two powers.

New Defense Secretary Mark Esper warned that Washington "will do what is in its interest" while Russian President Vladimir Putin has already vowed to deploy new missiles.

In fact, the Pentagon is looking to modernize its arsenal to counter the rise of China, which wants to prove its military superiority in Asia.

"Most of the Chinese arsenal is made up of medium-range missiles, and we have to ensure that we have the same capabilities if we ever had to go into conflict with them," he said.

On the Russian side, the Kremlin does not regret getting rid of a tool that is considered to be in the interest of Washington.

In Brussels, NATO said it did not want to enter a new arms race, while noting that "its deterrent capability remains credible."

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterich said yesterday that "the world will lose an important tool in the face of nuclear war," referring to concerns expressed by the Europeans as well, although they accuse Moscow of violating the agreement.

At the same time, Mr Pompio stressed that the Trump administration wanted to open a "new phase of arms control" beyond the Russian-American bilateral framework, which also includes China, a proposal that does not seem to have aroused Beijing's interest so far.

"Russia wants to do something about a nuclear deal," US President Donald Trump said yesterday. I'm ok, "without giving further details.

The START agreement remains the only effective bilateral agreement between Washington and Moscow on nuclear weapons. It states that the number of weapons of the two nuclear arsenals of the two countries will remain lower than in the Cold War, and will expire in 2021.

"Opportunities for START are weak," said Alexander Savylev, an analyst at the Russian Council for Foreign Affairs. Under these circumstances, nothing will be able to reduce the new arms race between the United States and Russia. "

On Moscow's proposal to implement a freeze on the deployment of nuclear weapons banned under this agreement, Russia also hinted that it did not trust the promises of NATO.

Trump has vowed not to deploy new nuclear missiles in Europe, but has made no promises about the deployment of conventional weapons.