Russia mulls bailing from missile treaty

WASHINGTON, March 9 (UPI) -- Russia is considering opting out of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces missile disarmament treaty, the Financial Times reported Wednesday.

The newspaper cited a previously unreported January meeting in Washington where Russia's defense minister asked his U.S. counterpart what U.S. reaction would be to the withdrawal. Soon after, a Russian delegation said the country was withdrawing the question.

The 1987 INF treaty required the United States and then-Soviet Union to eliminate and renounce permanently an entire category of weapons and missiles able to hit targets in Europe but not the contiguous United States. Some 2,692 missiles were destroyed by June 1991.

Henry Sokolski, a former arms control official who heads the private Non-Proliferation Policy Education Center, said Russia was aware of international consequences, such as damage to its relations with China and Europe, but said it would not have a direct impact on the United States.