Czech President Says US Losing Credibility Amid Plans to Exit From INF Treaty

"I am sharing the opinion of the European Union that has protested against the US pullout from this treaty. US President Donald Trump has already left several international agreements. This one [INF] is not the first one and the only one. I believe that if you violate the treaty you've previously signed, you lose credibility," Zeman said, as quoted by the TV Barrandov broadcaster.

US President Donald Trump announced on Saturday that the United States would "terminate" the INF treaty, claiming that Russia had not honored the agreement. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov strongly rejected the US accusations and warned that scrapping the treaty would force Russia to take measures to ensure its security. Several EU countries, such as France, Germany, Austria, Italy, and Spain, similarly expressed their concerns over possible ramifications of the termination of the treaty, viewed as a pillar of the Euro-Atlantic security.

The INF Treaty was signed in 1987 by former President of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev and then-US President Ronald Reagan, who agreed to destroy all cruise or ground-launched ballistic missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers (310 and 3,400 miles).

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The INF treaty has an unlimited duration and each side can terminate it by providing compelling evidence to substantiate its decision. Russia and the United States have repeatedly accused each other of violating the treaty.