Russia will exit INF nuclear pact in six months

The United States announced its decision to withdraw from the decades-long landmark nuclear arms control pact with Russia last Friday.

MOSCOW: Russia will exit the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty in six months as part of a symmetrical response to the United States` pullout, the Interfax news agency cited Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying on Wednesday.

President Vladimir Putin said at the weekend that Russia had suspended the Cold War-era pact after Washington announced it would withdraw in six months unless Moscow ends what it says are violations of the 1987 pact.

Moscow denies it is violating the pact.