Washington's INF Treaty Pullout Shows Need For EU To End US Domination - French Politician

ST. PETERSBURG (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st October, 2018) US latest surprise decision to quit a nuclear treaty with Russia reflects need for France and Europe to stop being dominated militarily by Washington, a French politician told Sputnik.

US President Donald Trump said on Saturday he would pull his country from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, which banned ground-based medium-range nuclear missiles.

"For France and Europe, this latest unilateral US move shows the urgency to walk away from being dominated by the unstable and overtly self-concerned US military command," Sebastien Cochard of France's Debout la France (France Arise) party said.

Cochard added that this decision, which may still get deadlocked in Congress, was another example of US foreign policy, which is "running from one trap to another."

"The US pretend to enforce that they are the sole global power but they keep undermining, piece after piece, all the pillars on which their power is based," he said.

A military alliance with a unilateralist United States does not make sense anymore, he added.

"France must walk away from the NATO integrated command as soon as possible and ask other EU and NATO Member States to choose their camp. An autonomous, pragmatic and strong deterrent force can be built in Europe based on the nuclear capacity of France," Cochard concluded.

The INF Treaty, a major arms control agreement, was signed by former President of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev and then-US President Ronald Reagan back in 1987, when the Cold War between the two nations was still ongoing. The two sides agreed to destroy all cruise or ground-launched ballistic missiles that have ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers (310 and 3,400 miles).

Moscow and Washington decided that the treaty would have an unlimited duration and each side could terminate it by providing compelling evidence substantiating its decision.