The Trump administration has told U.S. allies that it wants to withdraw from the landmark Reagan-era Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty, or INF, and plans to inform Russian leaders of its position in the coming days, said foreign diplomats and other people familiar with the deliberations.
The planning is the brainchild of Trump’s hawkish national security adviser, John Bolton, who has told U.S. allies he believes the INF puts Washington in an “excessively weak position” against Russia “and more importantly China,” said a diplomat who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive issue.
For years, the United States has expressed concern that Russia is violating the INF with a ground-launch cruise missile known as the SSC-8. Russia, in turn, has accused the United States of violating the treaty with missile-defense installations in Europe — an accusation that U.S. officials deny.
