Mattis looks to calm European allies nervous about INF treaty

FILE PHOTO: Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar (left) speaks with U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis during a NATO defence ministers meeting in Brussels, Belgium, October 4, 2018. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir/File Photo

PRAGUE (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Sunday that the United States was in consultation with its European allies on an arms control treaty, as NATO members urge Washington to try to bring Russia back into compliance with the pact rather than quit it.

President Donald Trump said on Oct. 20 that Washington planned to quit the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty which Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader, and Ronald Reagan had signed in 1987.