Chances Of Congress Bill In Support Of US INF Compliance 'Close To Zero'- Russian Lawmaker

There are members of US Congress who oppose the country's plans to withdraw from the 1987 US-Soviet Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, but their chances to reverse the situation are null, Russian upper house lawmaker Alexander Pushkov said on Saturday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th February, 2019) There are members of US Congress who oppose the country's plans to withdraw from the 1987 US-Soviet Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, but their chances to reverse the situation are null, Russian upper house lawmaker Alexander Pushkov said on Saturday.

On Friday, Tulsi Gabbard, the US congresswoman from the state of Hawaii and a Democratic Party member who has recently announced her bid to run for president, introduced a bill in the Congress to prevent President Donald Trump from withdrawing the United States from the treaty and prohibit the use of any taxpayer money for weapons that violate the accord.

"The bill being examined in Congress, which blocks the United States from withdrawing from the INF Treaty, was introduced by Tulsi Gabbard, one of few members of Congress opposing a new arms race, interference in Venezuela and so on. There are opponents of the exit [from the treaty] in the United States, but the chances of this bill are close to zero," Pushkov wrote on Twitter.

The INF Treaty, which was signed by the United States and the Soviet Union in 1987 and banned all ground-launched missiles, conventional or nuclear, with ranges of 310 to 3,400 miles, has recently become another contentious point in the relationship between the United States and Russia.

The United States has been claiming that the range of Russia's 9M729 missile violates the treaty's limits, but Moscow has denied the allegations, stressing that they were unsubstantiated. Russia, in turn, has complained that US defense systems in Europe were equipped with launchers capable of firing cruise missiles at ranges prohibited under the INF treaty.

Earlier in February, US State Secretary Mike Pompeo announced that the United States had suspended its obligations under the INF Treaty and triggered the six month withdrawal process unless Russia comes back into compliance with the pact. The following day, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow had suspended its participation in the treaty in response to the US actions. However, he stressed that all Russia's proposals remained on the table.