The statement by Russian President Vladimir Putin on de-escalation measures in connection with the termination of the INF Treaty is aimed at continuing the line towards multi-vector de-escalation.

This was announced by the press secretary of the Russian leader Dmitry Peskov.

“You know that the President issued a statement on additional steps to de-escalate the situation in Europe in the context of the termination of the INF Treaty.

An important document.

President Putin is consistently continuing the line on such a multi-vector de-escalation, "Peskov stressed.

He recalled that earlier the head of state made a statement on the restoration of Russian-American cooperation in the field of international information security.

Peskov also reminded reporters what efforts are now being made by experts on the START III treaty.

As for the statement by Vladimir Putin on the INF Treaty, this is a new initiative that has not been previously worked out with foreign countries, Peskov added.

  • Vladimir Putin

  • RIA News

  • © Alexey Druzhinin

Recall that on October 26, the Kremlin's official website published a statement by Vladimir Putin "on additional steps to de-escalate the situation in Europe in the context of the termination of the Treaty on Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles."

The statement emphasizes that Russia continues to consider the INF Treaty "an important element of the architecture for ensuring international security and strategic stability," especially in the European space.

The US withdrawal from the treaty was a "serious mistake" that increased the risk of "uncontrolled escalation."

"In this context, we reaffirm our adherence to the earlier announced by the Russian Federation a moratorium on the deployment of ground-based INF missiles until missile weapons of similar classes of American production appear in the respective regions," the statement said.

In addition, as the head of state noted, the call to NATO to consider the possibility of declaring a counter moratorium "has not lost its relevance."

Putin also invited all interested parties to consider "specific options for mutual verification measures."

"In particular, we could talk about verification measures in relation to the Aegis Ashore complexes with Mk-41 launchers at US and NATO bases in Europe, as well as 9M729 missiles at the facilities of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in the Kaliningrad region," statement.

During these checks, the parties could be convinced of the absence of intermediate and shorter-range ground-based missiles at these facilities, as well as weapons, "according to the characteristics and classification of which the parties could not agree."

It is specified that we are talking about the Russian 9M729 missile.

  • Aegis Ashore Complex

  • Reuters

  • © Kyodo

Putin also added that although Russia believes that the 9M729 missile does not violate the terms of the earlier INF Treaty, the Russian side is ready “in good faith to continue not to deploy 9M729 missiles on the European part of the country”, but only on condition of “counter steps by NATO countries ”.

We are talking about the non-deployment in Europe of weapons previously banned by the INF Treaty.

In addition, the Russian leader called on all interested countries to look for schemes to maintain stability and prevent missile crises.

Trust deficit

Recall that the Treaty on Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles was signed by the USA and the USSR in 1987 and entered into force in 1988.

The parties agreed to eliminate ground-based intermediate and shorter-range missile systems.

We are talking about missiles with a range of 500 to 5.5 thousand km, the parties to the treaty pledged not to produce or deploy such missiles in the future.

However, on August 2, 2019, Washington unilaterally left the treaty.

The reason for the termination of the INF Treaty was the suspicion of the American side that Russia had developed a missile, the characteristics of which allegedly contradict the Cold War treaty.

First of all, it was about the 9M729 cruise missile of the Iskander complex.

Washington has accused Moscow of allegedly violating the INF Treaty since the mid-2000s.

  • The signing of the INF Treaty by the leaders of the USSR and the USA

  • © Wikimedia commons

In turn, Moscow has long been making claims to the American side because of the so-called target missiles and attack UAVs, which fell under the description of a weapon prohibited under the treaty.

In addition, the Russian side has repeatedly drawn attention to the fact that the infrastructure of American missile defense systems in Eastern Europe allows launching medium-range missiles of the Tomahawk family.

In addition, in 2017, Moscow became aware of the fact of modernization of production facilities in the United States for the production of missiles prohibited by the treaty. 

Moscow put forward a proposal to introduce a moratorium on the deployment of intermediate and shorter-range missiles in connection with the collapse of the DRMSD back in September 2019.

Commenting on this initiative, the representative of the North Atlantic Alliance Oana Lungescu said that the idea of ​​the Russian side "is unrealistic to implement."

“As for the moratorium, we have heard this proposal before, but it is not credible because it ignores reality: Russia has already deployed SSC-8 (NATO classification for the 9M729 missile) in violation of the INF Treaty.

Until Russia destroys the SSC-8 system, this deployment moratorium is not a viable proposal, ”she said.

Oana Lungescu added that NATO does not want a new arms race and will not deploy new nuclear weapons in Europe.

Donald Trump, the head of the White House, also commented on the idea of ​​Moscow.

As Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, the US President sent a short letter in which he announced his readiness to look for ways to overcome problems in relations.

In general, no one responded to the Russian initiative, with the exception of France, Lavrov noted then.

Recall that French President Emmanuel Macron announced in November 2019 that although Paris did not accept Russia's proposal to introduce a moratorium on the deployment of short- and medium-range missiles in Europe and other regions, this idea could become the basis for further discussion. 

Moscow's new initiative has so far been commented on only in Berlin.

According to the representative of the German Foreign Ministry Andrea Sasse, the German side shares the opinion of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, which he expressed regarding the proposal of the Russian Federation last year.

According to Sasse, Berlin believes that the Russian initiative "does not inspire confidence." 

Struggle for stability

According to military expert Alexei Leonkov, today there are no prerequisites in the world for starting a full discussion of missile deterrence issues.

“Russia has already invited countries to discuss security issues.

But this idea did not receive support.

This suggests that NATO countries, including European ones, consider their tactics to be advantageous.

I believe that the current initiative of the Russian leadership will not arouse interest either.

The North Atlantic Alliance will continue to operate in the same way, "the expert said in an interview with RT.

Leonkov recalled that Russia had previously proposed various options for preserving the INF Treaty, but all of them were ignored, and the treaty was terminated.

  • Reuters

  • © Francois Lenoir

“Now the same fate may befall START III.

And if this happens, the world may face a new arms race, ”the expert added.

A similar point of view is shared by Sergei Ermakov, head of the regional security sector of the Center for Defense Research RISS.

“New negotiations on weapons are needed, but for them to take place, some kind of political foundation is needed.

Now the problem is that it has been destroyed, an atmosphere of mistrust reigns in which it is difficult to conduct new negotiations.

As for Moscow's initiative, it is still difficult to say how NATO and Washington will assess it.

In general, the West is critical of the Russian proposals, it comes from the United States, "the expert noted in a commentary on RT.

According to him, today the European allies of the United States, who are primarily affected by Moscow's proposal, are looking with concern at the actions of the Donald Trump administration.

European governments fear a negative scenario for the development of the military-political situation and a new arms race.

“However, at the same time, there are voices in Europe in support of US actions, some countries want to thus increase their status, at the expense of American support.

Russia needs a clearly predictable situation in Europe, which is why it put forward this initiative.

Moscow is doing everything possible to protect itself and the entire European continent, ”Yermakov is sure.

The expert also added that the Russian proposal gives the parties a chance to eliminate serious contradictions and create transparency in relations between countries.

Alexey Leonkov expressed a similar point of view.

“Russia understands that any escalation of tension can lead to irreparable consequences, a new global conflict.

Therefore, Moscow proposes such steps that will help maintain stability in Europe for many years to come, "the expert summed up.