Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- February 7, 2019

U.S. President Donald Trump sits for an exclusive interview with Reuters journalists in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S. December 11, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Joel Gehrke, Washington Examiner: Trump warns China, Russia: US would win nuclear arms race

President Trump warned China and Russia not to seek to win an arms race with the United States and instead proposed negotiations to expand a recently scrapped nuclear arms control pact.

“We really have no choice,” Trump said of the decision to withdraw from from the 1987 INF Treaty. “Perhaps we can negotiate a different agreement, adding China and others, or perhaps we can't — in which case, we will outspend and out-innovate all others by far.”

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced last week that the United States would withdraw from the treaty — which bans land-based intermediate-range cruise missiles — due to Russian violations of the pact in recent years. The treaty applies only to the former Cold War archenemies, while China has been free to develop such weapons unrestricted by the accord.

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Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- February 7, 2019

Killing the INF Treaty was a Gift to Russia -- Jon Wolfsthal, Al Jazeera

Trump dashes

hopes he will meet Xi this month -- Asia Times

Analysis: Is Kim Jong Un really ready to make a deal? -- Eric Talmadge, AP

AP Explains: Trump-Kim summit in Vietnam may be win for all -- Grant Peck, AP

Trump wants out of America's longest war, but Afghans can't just walk away -- Emma Graham-Harrison, The Guardian

Trump's mixed messages on the Middle East -- Gregory Aftandilian, Al Jazeera

Rebuilding Mosul, one street at a time -- Rob Matheson, Al Jazeera (Video)

How Iran's role in Middle East boomed since 1979 revolution -- Zeina Khodr, Al Jazeera (Video)

Iran’s ‘revolution babies’ weigh their progress since 1979 -- Mehdi Fattahi, AP

China’s recent crackdown on labour activists may have little to do with their own action -- Manfred Elfstrom, SCMP

Gilets jaunes: Will Macron's Grand Debate tackle French crisis? -- Hugh Schofield BBC News

Russia’s tango with Pakistan -- Ume Farwa Azeemi, Asia Times

NATO accession marks new chapter for a 'new' country -- Boris Georgievski, DW

Russia, Germany, and the INF: Will Berlin break its silence? -- Gustav Gressel, ECFR

What We Heard in Caracas -- Robert Malley & Robert fadel, The Atlantic