MOSCOW — The U.S. national security adviser, John Bolton, has confirmed the U.S. will withdraw from the intermediate-range nuclear forces treaty, or INF Treaty, after meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Tuesday.

According to NPR, Bolton cited Russian violations as the reason to terminate the 1987 INF Treaty signed by President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
According to CBS News, the U.S. claims Russia's 9M729 missile system violates the INF treaty. The system can operate at lower altitudes and reach targets across Europe and the U.S. west coast if launched from Siberia.
The original treaty prohibited the U.S. and Russia from fielding ground-launched cruise missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers, their launchers and associated support structures.
According to Bolton, it is necessary for the U.S. to withdraw in order to adapt to a post-Cold War environment with several competing global powers. He cited efforts to develop weapons by China, Iran and other countries not bound by the INF Treaty.
Bolton also said the U.S. has not yet taken any formal steps, but that America would exit the treaty "in due course."