Senior U.S. diplomat to visit UK over int'l security issues

U.S. Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Andrea Thompson will travel to London on March 5-8 to meet with her British counterparts on international Security issues.

According to a statement issued by U.S. State Department on Monday, Thompson will discuss the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, arms control, and cyber Security issues with British officials in London, the statement said.

In January, Thompson and her Russian counterparts held consultations on the fate of the INF Treaty signed between Washington and Moscow, but to no avail.

The Kremlin said Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree suspending Russia's compliance with the INF Treaty with immediate effect.

Putin ordered to suspend the implementation of the Treaty "until the United States eliminates the violations of obligations under the treaty or until its expiration," according to the text of the decree published on the Kremlin website.

The Trump administration last month announced that the United States would suspend its compliance to the Treaty from Feb. 2, citing Russia's violation of the deal, a claim that has been repeatedly denied by Moscow.

Signed in 1987 between the Soviet Union and the United States, the INF Treaty marked the first-ever pact reached by Washington and Moscow on nuclear disarmament and a major step forward in restricting the arms race.

However, the two sides have been accusing each other of violating the arms control agreement amid increasing tensions in recent years.