Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday said he set down a marker for Russian President Vladimir Putin in a recent speech when he announced the U.S. would quit the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty if Russia did not correct alleged violations of the pact within a 60-day deadline.
“Look, what I was intending to do there was articulate President Trump’s efforts around the world to continue the tradition of American leadership, to keep the world prosperous and the people around the world secure,” Pompeo told Hugh Hewitt in a radio interview.
Pompeo said the speech, at NATO headquarters in Brussels, “sets down the marker” because “what Russia understands is action.”
“They [Russia] understand actual responses. The United States under President Trump has been incredibly strong in doing that,” Pompeo said. “We’ve provided defensive weapons systems to the Ukrainians. We have sanctioned senior officials inside of Russia. The list of our efforts to … deter Vladimir Putin is long. There still obviously remains a great deal of work to do.”
The secretary of state maintains that the INF Treaty no longer makes sense or is in the best interest of the U.S., and broader efforts will continue to ensure the safety of European allies.
[Opinion: Why withdrawing from the INF treaty won’t increase Russia’s threat]
