The US will pull out of the Open Skies treaty, a major international defence accord that allows nations to fly over each other’s territory, the second time in the space of 12 months that the Trump administration has withdrawn from a global arms control deal.

Donald Trump said the US would exit the treaty until Russia adhered to its terms. “So I think what’s going to happen is we’re going to pull out and they’re going to come back and want to make a deal,” he told reporters on Thursday. “We’ve had a very good relationship lately with Russia.” 

Robert O’Brien, the White House national security adviser, said Mr Trump had “made clear” that the US “will not remain a party to international agreements that are being violated by the other parties and are no longer in America’s interests”.