WASHINGTON: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has announced that the US wil be pulling out of a nuclear treaty with Russia that has been a centerpiece of arms control since the Cold War.
The withdrawal had been expected for months and it follows years of unresolved dispute over Russian compliance with the 1987 pact, which bans certain ground-launched cruise missiles. Russia denies violating the treaty.
Pompeo says the US will suspend its obligations to the treaty on Saturday. Pompeo says that if Russia does not come into compliance, the treaty "will terminate."
US officials also have expressed concern that China, which is not part of the treaty, is deploying large numbers of missiles in Asia that the US cannot counter because it's bound by the treaty.

(With agencies)