WASHINGTON, DC — U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton confirmed today to a Moscow press conference that the United States would withdraw from the landmark Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, citing Russian noncompliance with the agreement.

In reaction to Bolton’s press conference and the Trump Administration’s intent to withdraw from the INF Treaty, Derek Johnson, executive director of Global Zero, the international movement for the elimination of nuclear weapons, issued the following statement:

“The Trump Administration’s decision to terminate the INF Treaty is yet another unforced error from a White House that seems determined to reverse decades of progress on nuclear arms control, with no plan in evidence for reducing nuclear threats.

“This decision does not serve U.S. national security interests and deals a blow to the already fragile system of nuclear stability, predictability and arms control. Walking away from INF should be an option of absolute last resort, yet no serious effort has been made by the Trump administration to resolve mutual allegations of treaty violations and bring Russia back into compliance with a valuable agreement. Instead, the Trump administration’s intention to kill the deal lets Russia off the hook from its treaty obligations, shifts blame to the United States for a breakdown in arms control, and paves the way for a nuclear arms race that neither country can afford and the world may not survive.

“Intentionally dismantling the restraints imposed by the INF Treaty does not bode well for the prospect of extending New START, the last remaining barrier to a full-blown nuclear arms race between Russia and the United States which is set to expire in 2021. That should worry everyone.”