THE United States suspends compliance with the Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty tomorrow in a move condemned by peace campaigners as “very dangerous.”

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said today Washington would formally notify Moscow that it was withdrawing from the landmark 1987 treaty, which removed thousands of nuclear missiles from European soil, in six months’ time and that the treaty “will terminate” if Russia does not come into compliance with it.

The Donald Trump administration claims Russia is in violation of the treaty, saying its 9M729 missiles have ranges between 500 and 5,000km — the intermediate ranges prohibited by it. Russia denies this and Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said yesterday the US had declined to engage in “any substantial talks” about its concerns or its evidence.

Mr Pompeo’s announcement came despite pleas from the European Union that Russia and the US stick to it. “What we definitely don’t want to see if our continent going back to being a battlefield or a place where other superpowers confront [each other],” EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said.

But German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas took the US claim that Russia had violated the treaty at face value, saying: “Without the INF treaty there will be less security, but we need to take into consideration that the treaty was violated by the Russian side.”

Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg rushed to support the US, tweeting that unless Russia “returned to full and verifiable compliance” it would bear “sole responsibility” for the treaty’s collapse. “Nato fully supports the US suspension and notification of withdrawal,” he said.

However, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament spokeswoman Sara Medi Jones pointed to Mr Trump’s previous withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, saying he “appears to be attempting to break with all forms of international arms control.

“Nato’s decision to place the blame solely with Russia is highly irresponsible,” she said. “Both Russia and the US have concerns that the other side isn’t fulfilling their obligations. These concerns must be discussed and resolved.”

CND called on the British government to do what it could to save the treaty, and to guarantee it would not offer to host US nuclear missiles on British soil if it is scrapped – which would “massively increase the threat of nuclear war.”