Bolton visits Moscow: Russia is violating nuclear agreement, we're going to retreat

“There is a new strategic reality there”, Bolton told reporters, describing the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty “as a bilateral “tracts in a multipolar ballistic world”, which is not worth countries like China, Iran or North Korea.

The US estimates that a third of the Chinese missiles would be contrary to the INF if Beijing were part of the treaty, Bolton added.

He argued that with Russia in violations and other countries not obliged by the INF, only the US remains limited by the treaty.

For the conceptual possibility of universalizing the treaty, this is something we've thought of until 2004,” said Bolton.

There was an effort to do so, but” everyone failed”.

Bolton reminded reporters that it was scheduled to fly to Moscow on 11 September 2001 to announce that the US was withdrawing from the anti-balistic treaty (ABM).

At the time, he said jokingly, all media would call it “the foundation of strategic international stability”. However, there was no decline in international stability, he argued.

The “wasn't true then and now it won't be true with this” treaty, he said.

He confirmed that Russia, contrary to the treaty, tested rockets in 2008 and the US, has struggled to resolve the issue since 2013, but without success.

Moscow has rejected the US charges, saying American missile defence systems deployed in Poland and Romania were in violation. These systems would have been banned in the ABM treaty.

Commenting on a statement by the government in Beijing that China wants the US to remain in INF, Bolton said: “If I were living in Beijing, I would probably like the same thing. But I'm not. ”