(Alexei Nikolsky, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, speaks to Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu during a meeting in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, Feb. 2, 2019. Putin said that Russia will abandon the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty, following in the footsteps of the United States, but noted that Moscow will only deploy intermediate-range nuclear missiles if Washington does so.