Bolton to explain Trump's statement on US exit from INF

Kremlin expects that US National Security Adviser John Bolton will provide an explanation for US President Donald Trump’s statement concerning the US exiting the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty), Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday.

"In light of these statements, we would like to receive a detailed explanation from the US," he said in response to the question about whether this issue is on the agenda for the upcoming talks with Bolton in Moscow.

According to Peskov, this issue has been raised earlier during negotiations. "(Russian President Vladimir Putin) has repeatedly said that de facto, the US is undertaking actions that blur the articles of the agreement and violate the articles of the agreement. But Putin has always said that scrapping this document would cause damage to global security and stability," the Kremlin spokesman stressed.

According to him, certain issues concerning this agreement still exist, which the Russian leader has pointed out several times. "Many countries in Asia and other regions are developing such systems, which can be classified as intermediate-and short-range missiles. However, Russia and the US remain the two key countries responsible for global security and stability," Peskov added.

At the same time, the spokesman said it is too early to make conclusions on how Trump’s statements may affect the prolongation of the New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty). "In this case, hypothetical discussions are possible, but not quite suitable," he said. "I will repeat that we have to wait for concrete steps from Washington. So far, an intention was expressed, but no concrete actions have backed this intention."

On Saturday, US President Donald Trump said that Washington would withdraw from the INF Treaty because Russia was violating the terms of the agreement. At the same time, he did not rule out signing a new agreement on intermediate-range nuclear forces with Moscow and Beijing if Russia and China provide guarantees of halting the production of such weapons.

The INF Treaty was signed between the Soviet Union and the United States on December 8, 1987 in Washington, DC. The US accused Russia of violating the agreement for the first time in July 2014. Later, Washington repeated the claims on many occasions, while Moscow rejected them, also accusing the US of developing and deploying missiles and missile defense elements prohibited by the treaty.