The United States did not provide any evidence or the fact that Russia violated the obligations enshrined in the Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles (INF Treaty), which ended on August 2. This was stated by Secretary of the Security Council of Russia Nikolai Patrushev.
“I believe that they needed a reason to withdraw from the contract. They needed this reason for themselves and their partners. When we said that provide us with specific facts, the answer was: “You yourself know.” But we do not know what we have violated. We know what the Americans violated, and we designated these three topics - launchers, target missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles. But they refused to discuss their violations, ”Patrushev said.
He suggested that the American side hinted at the Russian 9M729 cruise missile. However, Moscow offered the United States a closed look at this shell and get all the necessary information.
“They refused it,” Patrushev explained.
Speaking about the consequences of the situation, the Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation noted that the United States also withdrew from the ABM Treaty, intend to leave the Strategic Offensive Arms Treaty in 2021, while there was still a Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
“When these agreements work, then, of course, they do not have clear superiority anywhere in the world. When these agreements do not work, they will place weapons at any point against any enemy whom they consider to be such, and in any quantity, achieving superiority, ”Patrushev noted.
- Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Nikolai Patrushev
- RIA News
- © Alexey Nikolsky
Patrushev also expressed regret that Washington did not make a statement that they would not be the first to place such weapons. According to him, Moscow will adequately respond to any such actions. He also recalled the events that occurred in August 1945 in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, when the United States twice used nuclear weapons.
“Why did this happen? Because they dominated, they knew that not a single country in this case could answer them. And now it’s possible to allow this to dominate and believe that no one can answer them, it’s impossible, ”Patrushev concluded.
Chronology
Recall, on February 2, 2019, the United States unilaterally launched the procedure for withdrawing from the Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate and Shorter Range Missiles. The reason for this decision was allegedly violations by the Russian side in the development of the 9M729 cruise missile of the Iskander operational-tactical complex. In Washington, they say that its flight range exceeds 500 km, which contradicts the INF Treaty. However, shortly before that, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation organized a briefing at which it presented all the necessary documentation confirming the fact that the creation of the rocket does not violate the agreements concluded in 1987. Representatives of NATO countries, including the US military attachés, ignored the briefing, despite receiving invitations.
On August 2, the agreement officially terminated on the initiative of the American side. Commenting on this fact, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called Russia the only culprit. At the same time, the head of the Pentagon, Mark Esper, noted that the United States is starting to develop previously banned rockets.
“President Trump instructed the administration to start a new chapter and take steps to begin a new era of arms control that goes beyond bilateral agreements of the past. In the future, the United States is calling on Russia and China to join us in this opportunity to achieve real security results for our countries and the whole world, ”the head of the US State Department said in a statement.
At the same time, Moscow completely disagrees with Washington’s assessments and actions regarding the INF Treaty. As Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov emphasized, it was “the United States that became the grave diggers of the treaty” and dealt a heavy blow to the arms control system that had been created over decades. The diplomat also called on Washington to abandon plans to deploy medium- and shorter-range missiles.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, in turn, instructed the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Foreign Intelligence Service to "closely monitor" the steps of the American side in the development, production and deployment of the INF. According to the head of state, the agreement signed in 1987 was "written off by the American colleagues in the archive", remaining in history. The Russian leader emphasized that Moscow is not giving up its unilateral obligations and all subsequent actions will be exclusively “reciprocal, mirror-like.”
“Despite the incident, we nevertheless rely on common sense, on a sense of responsibility of American colleagues and their allies both to their peoples and to the entire international community ... Russia considers it necessary, without delay, to resume full-fledged negotiations on ensuring strategic stability and security . We are ready for this, ”Putin concluded.