US withdraws from INF treaty with Russia

The United States on Friday officially withdrew from the landmark arms control treaty with Russia, reported Al Jazeera.

Russia has also confirmed the termination of Intermediate-Range Nuclear Force Treaty.

"On 2 August 2019 the Treaty between the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the United States of America on the elimination of their medium-range and short-range missiles, signed in Washington on 8 December 1987, was terminated at the initiative of the American side", Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The US in February had announced that the US would exit from the treaty if Russia failed to comply with the accord until February 2.

In October last year, US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo issued the 60-day ultimatum to Russia for their compliance to the treaty, failing which the USA would withdraw from the treaty on February 2.

The Treaty, sealed in the waning days of the Soviet Union in 1987, bans ground-launched missiles with a range between 500 and 5,500 kilometres.

The Trump administration announced last October that, because of Russian violations dating back several years, it was planning to pull the United States from the pact.

The INF treaty was signed by former US President Ronald Reagan and former Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev to limit the arms race between the nations.