US Secretary of State Pompeo Announces Suspension of Mid-Range Missile Treaty.

20190201 US Secretary of State Pompeo announced the suspension of the implementation of the medium-range missile treaty. The Medium-Range Missile Treaty signed between the United States and Russia has been in force since the Cold War and is the first arms control treaty in the world that prohibits whole-class weapons, especially ground-based cruise missiles with a maximum range of 5,500 kilometers. In the past few months, people have been expecting the United States to withdraw from the Medium-Range Missile Treaty because the controversy surrounding Russia's compliance with the treaty has not been resolved. Russia denies violation of this treaty. Pompeo said that on the issue of the Medium-Range Missile Treaty, the United States lost patience with Russia. Pompeo said: "We have provided Russia with ample time window to change its behavior and fulfill its commitments. Tomorrow will expire. In the past 60 days, Russia refused to take any measures to restore real Verifiable compliance status. Therefore, the United States will suspend its obligations under the Medium-Range Missile Treaty from February 2. We will send official notices to Russia and other States Parties, according to Article 15 of the Treaty, the United States will After six months, he withdrew from the Medium-Range Missile Treaty."

Pompeo had said in December last year that the United States would give Russia 60 days to resume compliance. The deadline will expire on Saturday, and the US State Department said that negotiations to try to reach a compliance agreement have not been successful.

Another reason for withdrawing from the deal is that the United States is concerned that China, which has not joined the treaty, will gain military advantage by deploying missiles with a range that exceeds treaty limits.

Kremlin spokesman Peskov said in a telephone interview with reporters in Moscow that he was "very sorry" about the news. He complained that Washington has been "unwilling to hold any substantive negotiations with Moscow" to save the treaty.