German Lawmaker Says Trump Puts US Agenda Above Rules When Pushes To Annul INF Treaty

Bundestag member from the Social Democratic Party (SPD) Karl-Heinz Brunner believes that the announced intention of the United States to pull out from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) reflects US President Donald Trump's desire to show that he would not be obstructed by rules, if he considers some of them not beneficial for Washington.

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd October, 2018) Bundestag member from the Social Democratic Party (SPD) Karl-Heinz Brunner believes that the announced intention of the United States to pull out from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) reflects US President Donald Trump's desire to show that he would not be obstructed by rules, if he considers some of them not beneficial for Washington.

On Saturday, Trump announced that the United States would withdraw from the INF treaty over the alleged violations of the agreement by Russia. Earlier on Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that Moscow would formulate position on the issue only after receiving official clarifications from Washington. He added that any action in this area would be met with a counteraction, stressing that parity would be maintained under any circumstances.

"Trump continues the 'America First' agenda declared by him. The INF is more of a vehicle: he wants to show the international community that he will not be obstructed by rules," Brunner, who is the SPD spokesman on disarmament policy, said.

The German lawmaker believes that such Trump's policy is shortsighted.

"These international treaty regimes must be more binding than the agenda of individual administrations. Otherwise we fall back into the world-political Stone Age. The United States was once guardian of an order that Trump is now actively destroying," Brunner said.

The INF treaty was signed between the Soviet Union and the United States in December 1987 and required the parties to destroy their ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges of between 500 and 5,500 kilometers (from 311 to 3,317 miles). The United States and Russia have repeatedly accused each other of violating the treaty.

Over less than two years in the office, Trump has already announced US withdrawal from several important international agreements, most notably the Iran nuclear deal, the Paris climate agreement and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).