“From the very beginning, they were working to undermine the INF Treaty”: in Russia they commented on the test of a new cruise missile in the USA

A test of the United States previously banned INF Treaty missile became evidence that the American leadership was initially preparing to disrupt the treaty. This was stated by spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin Dmitry Peskov.

“As for the test in non-nuclear performance of medium-range missiles by the Americans. This news arrived in time yesterday at the moment of communication of two presidents - Putin and Macron. And just Putin noted that such tests, they once again show that the Americans from the very beginning were working to undermine the INF Treaty, that the Americans were preparing this from the very beginning, ”Peskov said.

Earlier, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs reacted to the launch of the rocket.

According to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the United States has been preparing for missile launches since at least the fall of 2018.

“This was still known from last October, when John Bolton came to us. And he told us ... that Trump’s statements about the need to withdraw from this treaty are not an invitation to dialogue, this is the final decision made. Apparently, even then, maybe even earlier, they began to prepare the tests that occurred that violate those parameters that were in the INF Treaty, ”RIA Novosti reports Lavrov’s words.

In turn, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov noted that the United States "has obviously taken a course towards escalating military tensions." According to him, the test of a new missile just a few weeks after the US withdraws from the INF Treaty suggests that the United States has long been developing such weapons.

“Probably, there can be no clearer and more explicit confirmation that the development of the corresponding systems was conducted in the USA for a long time and preparations for withdrawal from the contract included, inter alia, the corresponding research and development work,” TASS quoted Ryabkova.

"Commitment to a moratorium"

At the same time, Ryabkov said that Russia would not succumb to "provocations" and would deploy its missiles solely in response to similar US actions.

“We, as was announced yesterday in France by the president of Russia, reaffirm our commitment to a unilateral moratorium on the deployment of medium-range ground systems until such systems are deployed by the United States in any region of the world,” he added.

• American Aegis Ashore missile defense system in Romania
• Reuters
• © Inquam Photos / Adel Al-Haddad

The US’s priority areas for missile deployment are eastern Europe and countries accessing the Pacific Ocean, Anton Morozov, a member of the State Duma’s international affairs committee, said in an interview with RT.

“First of all, there are two points that are of most interest to them in terms of deploying their weapons. This is Eastern Europe, where they seek to increase their military presence by fomenting Russophobic sentiments, and the Asia-Pacific region, where tensions remain due to the unresolved conflict on the Korean Peninsula, ”the expert notes.

Reaction of China

Official Beijing also responded to missile tests. The Chinese Foreign Ministry called on Washington to abandon the thinking of the Cold War, show restraint in the development of new weapons and continue to maintain the existing arms control system. This was announced at a press conference by the representative of the ministry, Geng Shuang. He also warned the United States of the consequences of such provocative actions.

"These US actions will lead to a new arms race, to an escalation of military confrontation, and will also have a serious negative impact on the structure of regional and international security," RIA Novosti quoted the representative of the diplomatic department as saying.

This reaction of the Chinese Foreign Ministry is due to the fact that the US demonstration is directed, among other things, to China, said Vladimir Dzhabarov, First Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs.

“They stubbornly hinted that China is not part of the INF Treaty. Probably, this harsh statement of the PRC is made because there they also understand who the Americans are preparing these missiles for. Not only to Russia, but also to them, ”an expert told RT.

At the same time, Jabarov noted that in order to revive the agreement, it is necessary to involve different parties in the negotiations.

“I hope that common sense will prevail and we will begin negotiations. Two-, three-, and can be multilateral. Great Britain and France must be attracted here, they also have missiles of this type. That is, we start all over again from scratch, ”he concluded.

The tests will continue

At the same time, the Pentagon said that the United States began to develop a new cruise missile in February 2019.

“After the United States suspended its obligations under the INF Treaty in February 2019, the Department of Defense began conceptual designing ground-based cruise missile and ballistic missile systems,” the Pentagon press service told RIA Novosti.

They also noted that the US military will continue to continue testing missile systems to understand how they can be useful for the US defense system.

Recall that on Monday August 18, the United States tested a ground-based cruise missile, which the country had previously been forbidden to have under the Treaty on the Elimination of Medium and Shorter Range Missiles (INF Treaty), signed between the United States and the USSR in 1987. On August 2, the United States unilaterally withdrew from the INF Treaty, accusing Russia of not fulfilling the treaty. In turn, Russia was forced to suspend the agreement on its part.

It should be noted that Washington’s formal claims concerned the Russian 9M729 missile, which, according to the American side, violates the provisions of the INF Treaty. To clarify this situation, the Russian Ministry of Defense invited foreign military attaches to a briefing on this weapon. Representatives of the United States and several other Western countries ignored this event.

In turn, Moscow alleged Washington infringed the INF Treaty. According to the position of the Russian side, the United States ceased to comply with the provisions of the treaty in 1999, when they began to use target missiles. In this context, American missile launchers of the Mk41 missile defense systems, capable of launching Tomahawk cruise missiles, were also mentioned.