US formally withdraws from INF missile treaty
AFP
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The United States on Friday formally abandoned the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty with Russia, a statement from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said.

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The 9M728 missile container is demonstrated at the Patriot Congress and Exhibition Center, outside Moscow, Russia, on Jan. 23, 2019. (File photo: Xinhua/Bai Xueqi)

"The US withdrawal... of the treaty takes effect today," Pompeo said on a visit to Bangkok for a regional summit.

The Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed the demise of the INF treaty, saying its termination is at the initiative of the US side. 

 "On Aug. 2, 2019, at the initiative of the U.S. side, the operation of the treaty between the Soviet Union and the United States on the elimination of medium-range and shorter-range missiles, signed in Washington on Dec. 8, 1987, was terminated," said a ministry statement published on the official legal information Internet portal.

On Feb. 2, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia would suspend its participation in the INF Treaty in a mirror response to the U.S. withdrawal from the key arms-control pact.

Last month, Putin signed into law a bill suspending the country's participation in the treaty.

The INF Treaty was signed in 1987 between the Soviet Union and the United States on the elimination of intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles.

Moscow and Washington have accused each other of violating the agreement in recent years amid increasing tensions.