Shoigu called the US withdrawal from the INF Treaty the first step towards the arms race

Reports about it RIA News.

“There is a return to the offensive arms race, the first step towards which was the US decision to withdraw from the Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles,” Shoigu said at a meeting of SCO defense ministers in Bishkek.

According to him, at present, the West focuses on the power scenario of resolving conflicts of interest, although the “era of unipolarity” is becoming a thing of the past.

Among such aggressive steps, the Russian minister called “strikes” on the UN system, manipulating the norms of international law, and creating obstacles in the work of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

"Fundamental international non-proliferation mechanisms, including the Joint Comprehensive Action Plan on the Iranian nuclear program, are emasculated and destroyed," Shoigu added.

Earlier, Deputy Defense Minister Colonel-General Alexander Fomin, in an interview with RT, called the US withdrawal from the INF Treaty as an “irresponsible step” in terms of global and regional security.