Kremlin blames imminent demise of nuclear pact on Washington

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov arrives to the Russian President Vladimir Putin's annual news conference in Moscow, Russia December 20, 2018. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/Files

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Friday it regretted an impending U.S. move to stop complying with a landmark nuclear missile pact with Russia and accused Washington of failing to listen or negotiate to avoid such an outcome.

U.S. officials said on Thursday that the United States would soon announce plans to suspend compliance with the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty, responding to an alleged violation of the treaty by Moscow.

"....The unwillingness of the Americans to listen to any arguments and to hold substantive negotiations with us shows that the decision to break this treaty was taken in Washington a long time ago," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

(Reporting by Maria Tsvetkova; Writing by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Maria Kiselyova)