RUSSIA: The Kremlin on Monday said the world would be less safe if Washington goes ahead with plans to withdraw from a Cold War-era nuclear weapons treaty that banned intermediate-range missiles.
“Such steps, if taken, will make the world more dangerous,” said presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov as he rejected claims by US President Donald Trump that Russia had violated the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF).
“Russia has been and remains committed to the provisions of this treaty,” he said.
The US had previously undermined the foundations of the agreement, Peskov added.
“The intention to withdraw from this document is of the deepest concern.”
Peskov reiterated an earlier statement by President Vladimir Putin that Russia would never strike first even if threatened with a nuclear attack.
“We don’t feel that we have the right to inflict the first strike,” he said.
The INF resolved a crisis over Soviet nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles targeting Western capitals.
The treaty was signed by then US president Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader, who at the weekend also criticized plans to pull out.
US national security adviser John Bolton is in Moscow for two days of talks in which the issue will be discussed.
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Kremlin says world ‘more dangerous’ if US drops nuclear treaty
Kremlin says world ‘more dangerous’ if US drops nuclear treaty
- ‘Russia has been and remains committed to the provisions of this treaty’
- The treaty was signed by then US president Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev
Man convicted of attempting to kill Trump faces sentence
- Ryan Routh was convicted in September of trying to kill then-candidate Donald Trump at his Florida golf course
WASHINGTON: A man faces up to life in prison Wednesday over his attempt to assassinate Donald Trump at his Florida golf course just months before the US presidential election in 2024.
Ryan Routh, 59, was convicted in September of trying to kill then-candidate Trump, the second attempt on the billionaire’s life in the run-up to the vote that brought him back to the White House.
In September 2024, Secret Service agents chased Routh away after spotting him with a weapon near the golf course where Trump was playing. He was arrested shortly afterwards.
At the end of his trial, Routh tried to stab himself with a pen, but guards intervened to stop him.
“Routh’s crimes undeniably warrant a life sentence — he took steps over the course of months to assassinate a major presidential candidate, demonstrated the will to kill anybody in the way, and has since expressed neither regret nor remorse to his victims,” prosecutors argued in a court filing, according to ABC News.
“Routh’s crimes of conviction reflect careful plotting, extensive premeditation, and a cowardly disregard for human life,” they wrote.
Routh defended himself during his trial, pleading not guilty and claiming that he never intended to harm Trump or anyone else.
Trump was also the target of an assassination attempt on July 13, 2024, when Thomas Matthew Crooks fired several shots during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. One of them grazed Trump’s right ear.
Ryan Routh, 59, was convicted in September of trying to kill then-candidate Trump, the second attempt on the billionaire’s life in the run-up to the vote that brought him back to the White House.
In September 2024, Secret Service agents chased Routh away after spotting him with a weapon near the golf course where Trump was playing. He was arrested shortly afterwards.
At the end of his trial, Routh tried to stab himself with a pen, but guards intervened to stop him.
“Routh’s crimes undeniably warrant a life sentence — he took steps over the course of months to assassinate a major presidential candidate, demonstrated the will to kill anybody in the way, and has since expressed neither regret nor remorse to his victims,” prosecutors argued in a court filing, according to ABC News.
“Routh’s crimes of conviction reflect careful plotting, extensive premeditation, and a cowardly disregard for human life,” they wrote.
Routh defended himself during his trial, pleading not guilty and claiming that he never intended to harm Trump or anyone else.
Trump was also the target of an assassination attempt on July 13, 2024, when Thomas Matthew Crooks fired several shots during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. One of them grazed Trump’s right ear.
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