Trump, Putin to discuss INF Treaty in Paris, Russian foreign minister confirms

Moscow, Oct 31: The presidents of the US and Russia - Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, respectively, will talk over the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty when they meet in Paris on November 11, Russian Foreign Ministry Sergey Lavrov confirmed at the sixth World Congress of Russian Compatriots in Moscow, Russia's TASS news agency reported on Wednesday, October 31.

Lavrov said the two leaders will discuss everything as soon as they meet each other. He was answering to the query whether the two presidents were likely to discuss the INF Treaty in Paris. The INF Treaty of 1987, a key mechanism towards de-armament in the Cold war days signed between the US and former Soviet Union, is in the news as Trump has threatened to pull out of it accusing Russia of not honouring it.

The treaty, which was signed on December 8, 1987, came into effect on June 1 the next year and eliminated operational and non-operational medium range and shorter range ground-launched missiles. While the former Soviet Union got rid of 1,846 missiles, the number was 846 for the US.

Trump also spoke about the possibility of signing a new agreement on intermediate-range nuclear forces with Russia and China if they assured stopping development of such weapons.

Russia strongly condemned Trump's announcement of withdrawing from the treaty along with countries like China and Germany. The UK backed the US while the Nato held the Kremlin responsible for compelling Trump to arrive at such a decision.

The meeting in Paris will be taking less than four months since Trump and Putin met each other in a summit in Helsinki, Finland.