12/4/2018

MIKE POMPEO/NUCLEAR/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Tuesday [12-4-18] that the US will stop adhering to a decades-old nuclear treaty in 60 days unless Russia returns to compliance with the agreement…Pompeo said Russia’s violations of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty undermine American national security and as such, the US should not be ‘constrained’ by a treaty that hampers its ability to respond. Pompeo cast Russia’s violation of the treaty, which the Kremlin denies, as part of a wider web of destabilizing behavior, including Moscow’s recent clash with Ukraine in the Kerch Strait. On Wednesday [12-5-18], Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow would respond in kind if the US leaves the treaty.”

Jennifer Hansler, “US to withdraw from missile treaty in 60 days unless Russia reverses course, Pompeo says,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, December 4, 2018 9:45 am