Trump Risks World War 3

World War 3 alert: US triggers ARMS RACE risking nuclear WAR, warns former Soviet chief

Mikhail Gorbachev

Mr Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader, has denounced the US decision to leave an arms control treaty that helped end the Cold War.
US President Donald Trump, last week, said Washington plans to quit the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty.
Mr Gorbachev and then-US President Ronald Reagan signed the pact, to eliminate all short and intermediate-range land-based nuclear and conventional missiles held by both countries in Europe, in 1987.
But Mr Trump’s announcement to scrap the treaty has been branded a “dire threat to peace” by Mr Gorbachev.

Writing in a column for the New York Times, Mr Gorbachev wrote: "I am being asked whether I feel bitter watching the demise of what I worked so hard to achieve.
“But this is not a personal matter. Much more is at stake.
“A new arms race has been announced."
The US stationed land-based nuclear missiles in western Europe in the 1980s - triggering mass protests.
Now some US allies fear Washington might deploy a new generation of missiles in Europe, with Russia doing the same in its exclave of Kaliningrad, once again turning the continent into a potential nuclear battlefield.

Washington has blamed Russia’s alleged violation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty (Image: GETTY)

There will be no winner in a 'war of all against all' - particularly if it ends in a nuclear war

If the US made good on its pledge to leave the treaty, Mr Gorbachev said he hoped US allies would refuse to be launchpads for American missiles which Mr Trump has spoken of developing.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia would be forced to target any European countries that agreed to host US missiles.
Mr Gorbachev, 87, said that any disputes about compliance could be solved if there were sufficient political will.
It was clear, however, that Mr Trump's aim was to release the US from global constraints, he said, accusing Washington of destroying the "system of international treaties and accords" that underpinned peace and security after World War Two.

Mr Gorbachev wrote: "Yet I am convinced that those who hope to benefit from a global free-for-all are deeply mistaken.
“There will be no winner in a 'war of all against all' - particularly if it ends in a nuclear war.
And that is a possibility that cannot be ruled out. An unrelenting arms race, international tensions, hostility and universal mistrust will only increase the risk."
Washington has blamed Russia’s alleged violation of the pact as a reason to leave the treaty - an allegation Russia denies.
Moscow has now accused the US of breaking the pact.