Russia and the United States continue to discuss the Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles (INF) at the expert level. About this on Friday, November 23, said the deputy head of the Russian Foreign Ministry Sergey Ryabkov.
“We have conducted and continue to conduct a regular dialogue with the United States on the subject of the INF in the relevant formats,” the diplomat said.
Ryabkov said that in recent years, a meeting of the control commission set up as part of the implementation of the INF Committee was held twice. There were also several rounds of expert bilateral consultations.
At the same time, the Deputy Foreign Minister stated that Moscow has not even received from Washington an official notice of withdrawal from the INF. “So far, all we have heard is the announcement of the intention to do this,” Ryabkov said.
According to him, there is a difference between plans and concrete actions. The diplomat also reiterated the desire of the Russian side to maintain the existing treaty of 1987.
In turn, Vladimir Ermakov, Director of the Department for Non-Proliferation and Arms Control at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, told RIA Novosti that at the state level there are no negotiations on the INF Treaty between Russia and the United States.
The Foreign Ministry spokesman noted that Washington, through the media, is spreading unconfirmed information about alleged violations of the agreement by the Russian side, avoiding a full-fledged discussion with Moscow.
“Instead of sitting at the negotiating table with their partner, they are trying to introduce some crazy stuff into the media field,” Yermakov said. - The state, which feels that its position is strong, is in full-format negotiations. We are always ready for such negotiations. ”
The Foreign Ministry spokesman added that the list of “Russian violations” announced by Washington would most likely be devoid of specifics and facts.
“All this will be in their famous Healy Likely mode. We are in this mode do not work with anyone. Neither the Americans nor the British. They already have a way of working like this - throwing something into a highly Likely, and then referring to it. Will not work. This is nonsense, since international affairs are not being done. Moreover, they do not work this way on such sensitive issues as arms control, ”said Yermakov.
Recall that in the West they lay claims to the Russian 9M729 cruise missiles and the RS-26 ballistic missiles, the range of which allegedly does not correspond to the declared ones and violates the INF. It is this rhetoric that underlies the claims that Moscow’s politicians and diplomats make to Moscow.
John Bolton, an adviser to the US president on national security, said this during his visit to Moscow, saying that it was the “Russian violations” of the INF Treaty that had led to this situation for several years. Trump's assistant also repeatedly stated that the current agreement was outdated from a technical point of view.
In turn, the White House owner instructed members of his administration to prepare a report on the “substantial violation of the INF Treaty” by Moscow and present measures to the US Congress “for the return of the Russian Federation to compliance with the treaty.” At the same time, although both sides accuse each other of violating the agreement, Moscow stresses its importance for world stability and calls for its preservation, while in Washington it is clearly determined to break the INF Treaty.
“There should be facts and serious negotiations in an interdepartmental format between the states. And not communicating with the press and splashing into some kind of completely incomprehensible and unsubstantiated fabrications into the multimedia sphere, ”Yermakov said.
He added that the visit of Advisor to the President of the United States on national security John Bolton to Moscow in October 2018 did not help the dialogue.
“Bolton arrived with nothing. He was received in Moscow at the highest level ... And he brought nothing to Moscow. And we don’t see any positive after his visit, ”Ermakov believes.
“They do not need to convince Russians that Russians are wrong.”
In turn, Secretary of the Russian Security Council Nikolai Patrushev said that during the visit, John Bolton conveyed to the US presidential adviser Russia's concern about Washington’s plans for deploying missile defense and deploying drone-free UAVs.
“Washington completely ignores very serious issues. These include the possibility of using universal launchers on US missile defense bases in Romania and Poland for the use of Tomahawk cruise missiles. The firing range of these missiles falls within the limitations of the treaty ... The United States in the production and launching of land-based target missiles is working out technologies to create banned medium-range missiles. Also, the United States is engaged in the production and deployment of unmanned percussion aircraft, corresponding to the contractual term “cruise missile,” said Patrushev.
“We must pay tribute to the ability of Americans to handle such information stuffing. Behind the lengthy arguments about the diplomatic steps of the State Department, the main thing is hiding an attempt to accuse Russia of violating the INF Treaty and divert the world's attention from the facts of violations committed by the United States itself, ”the Security Council secretary emphasized.
He also stressed that the Russian side invariably makes active efforts to remove the claims of Washington, attentively responds to all US requests and provides comprehensive data confirming the absence of violations of the INF.
“Russia strictly fulfills and will fulfill the requirements of the INF Treaty and will not take steps that could lead to the violation of this bilateral agreement. We are ready to continue a substantive depoliticized conversation with the United States at the expert level on this agreement in the interests of maintaining strategic stability, ”Patrushev added.
In a conversation with RT, experts expressed the view that the actions of the United States around the INF Treaty are not even a search for violations by Russia, but a justification by Washington of its own activities.
“We are not talking about establishing some factual truth, but legitimizing our own political positions. That is, here we are talking about Russia is not in the sense that it is breaking something. Just to justify American actions, you need Russia to break. Therefore, statements are being made about this, ”said Kirill Koktysh, an associate professor at the Department of Political Theory at MGIMO.
The political scientist noted that the topic of the INF Treaty can be raised at the meeting between Putin and Trump in the framework of the G20, but it is not worth waiting for serious progress in the discussion on this issue.
“She (meeting. - RT ) will bring a continuation of the dialogue. That is, you can pin hopes on this meeting, you can not pin, but it is clear that there are no other options to make the world safer. Therefore, there are hardly any breakthroughs, ”the expert concluded.
Stanislav Byshok, a political analyst at the international monitoring organization CIS-EMO, believes that the information activity of the United States on the INF Treaty is required to generate opinions from Washington’s allies.
“They do not need to convince the Russians that the Russians are wrong. They need to convince their allies that withdrawing from this treaty is in the common interest. And in this sense, it does not matter whether Moscow considers the arguments of Washington to be justified - the loyalty of the US Western partners is sufficient, ”said the expert.
At the same time, the political scientist added that Europe still has something to worry about amid the differences between the US and Russia.
“If we assume some hypothetical conflict between Washington and Moscow, then it will also occur in Europe. So all conflict stories, especially those related to military movements between Russia and the United States, are increasingly worrying Europe, ”the expert noted.