News reports say the United States is moving toward withdrawing from a bedrock Cold War-era arms control treaty that it has accused Russia of violating.
The New York Times reported that White House national security adviser John Bolton plans to warn Russian President Vladimir Putin about the U.S. intentions on the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty, known as the INF.
Bolton, who travels to Moscow on October 20, will give that message to Putin directly, according to the Times.
The newspaper on October 19 said no final decision had been made on withdrawing from the INF agreement.
But President Donald Trump has voiced doubts about it, and other arms control agreements, in the past.
The Guardian, meanwhile, reported that Bolton has issued a recommendation for the withdrawal, and a White House meeting earlier in the week specifically discussed that question.
U.S. officials have also briefed European allies this week about the move, both papers reported.
In 2014, Washington publicly accused Moscow of developing a ground-launched cruise missile that U.S. officials said was in direct violation of the 1987 agreement. The U.S. State Department later said Moscow had begun deploying the missile.
Russia, for its part, has repeatedly denied the U.S. accusations, and also alleged the some elements of the U.S. missile defense systems in Europe were in violation of the agreement.
The treaty, signed by U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, was the first arms control agreement to eliminate an entire class of missiles.
