WASHINGTON, DC — Moments ago, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo announced that the United States would act to kill the landmark Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty in 60 days.

In response, Derek Johnson, executive director of Global Zero, the international movement for the elimination of nuclear weapons, issued the following statement:

“The INF Treaty is worth saving, and there’s is still time to do it if the Trump administration can get its act together. Both Russia and the United States, along with NATO members, have expressed a desire to preserve the agreement. But the U.S. announcing that it ‘hopes’ Russia will change its behavior without offering to engage Russia directly is not a strategy, it’s a gamble that jeopardizes U.S. national security, the transatlantic partnership, and global stability.

“Secretary Pompeo should immediately dispatch his Under-Secretary of State for Arms Control and other U.S. officials to meet with and relentlessly engage their Russian counterparts on maintaining the Treaty’s restraints on nuclear arms. A standing negotiating team should meet and present solutions to the United States, Russia and NATO. For the United States and its allies, any reasonable solution that eliminates Russia’s alleged violations should be acceptable — and worth fighting for. If such a solution is identified but rejected by Russia, it will be clear to the world where the blame for this breakdown in arms control truly lies.”