On October 19th, the New York Times reported that the United States was preparing to announce its exit from the 1987 Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty) ahead of US National Security Advisor John R. Bolton’s visit to Moscow. US President Donald Trump raised the issue at a campaign rally in Nevada on October 20th: “Russia has violated the agreement. They have been violating it for many years. And we’re not going to let them violate a nuclear agreement and go out and do weapons and we’re not allowed to.” Speaking to reporters, Trump claimed that one of the reasons for the withdrawal was China’s lack of participation, even though the INF Treaty was a bilateral agreement between the US and Russia. At a press conference in Moscow on October 23rd, Bolton explained that the US’s concerns began during the previous administration of President Barack Obama and emphasized the discussion of withdrawal was motivated by Russian violations: “The problem is there are Russian INF-violating missiles in Europe now. The threat is not American withdrawal from the INF Treaty; the threat is the Russian missiles already deployed.” At the press conference, Bolton confirmed that the US would file its official withdrawal “in due course.” Read more here.