"Fell from a sore head to a healthy one": Russia reacted to Washington's demand for missiles "violating the INF Treaty"

At the talks held in Moscow between the Assistant to the President of the Russian Federation for International Affairs Yuri Ushakov and the US Deputy Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland the issue of missiles falling under the Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles was not raised.

This was stated by the presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov, commenting on the demand of the US President's Special Representative for Nuclear Nonproliferation to remove from Europe Russian missiles that violate, according to Washington, the INF Treaty, from which the United States withdrew in August 2019.

“It was not discussed,” Peskov said.

Earlier, the US President's Special Representative for Nuclear Nonproliferation Jeffrey Eberhardt demanded that Moscow remove from Europe missiles that violate, according to Washington, the Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles.

“Russia has already violated the INF Treaty by deploying missiles.

So the solution is for them to remove these missiles, ”he said in a conversation with RIA Novosti.

Vladimir Dzhabarov, First Deputy Head of the International Committee of the Federation Council, recalled that it was the United States that initiated the breakdown of the INF Treaty.

In his opinion, the Americans should first withdraw their own missile weapons stationed on the European continent. 

“It is not clear where this statement came from.

It seems that they deliberately pretend that they do not understand anything and put forward provocative demands.

They are just trying to get rid of a sore head on a healthy one, ”he said in an interview with RT.

According to the vice-speaker of the Federation Council, Konstantin Kosachev, the American official made "yet another unfounded accusation."

“It is necessary to discuss relevant issues at expert consultations, and not through“ megaphone diplomacy, ”especially when it has only a megaphone from diplomacy,” RIA Novosti quoted him as saying.

In turn, Dmitry Novikov, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, pointed to an increased number of "absurd statements" from Washington.

“If we are concerned about global security, then the best step in this matter would be the dissolution of the NATO bloc.

Then you can consider such initiatives, "- said the interlocutor of RT.

Situation with the rupture of the INF Treaty

On August 2, 2019, the United States of America unilaterally withdrew from the Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles (INF Treaty), accusing Moscow of violating the agreement over 9M729 missiles.

At the same time, before that, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation held a briefing at which it disclosed the technical characteristics of these missiles, confirming their compliance with the INF Treaty.

Nevertheless, the military attaches of the United States and a number of other NATO countries ignored this event.

In turn, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu pointed out that the United States withdrew from the INF Treaty, since the agreement ceased to meet their interests "against the backdrop of the growing military and economic power of China, as well as the restoration of Russia's defense potential."

In September, Moscow came up with a proposal to introduce a moratorium on the deployment of intermediate and shorter-range missiles.

At the same time, NATO called the initiative of the Russian side "impracticable" because, in their opinion, Russia has already deployed 9M729 missiles in violation of the INF Treaty.

"Until Russia destroys the SSC-8 system, this deployment moratorium is not a real proposal," said Oana Lungescu, a spokesman for the North Atlantic Alliance.

In October 2020, Vladimir Putin announced additional de-escalation measures in connection with the collapse of the treaty on intermediate and shorter-range missiles through the fault of the United States.

In particular, the head of state confirmed his adherence to a moratorium on the deployment of ground-based missile carriers of this class, and also proposed to introduce mutual monitoring of NATO Aegis Ashore missile defense installations in Europe and Russian 9M729 missiles in the Kaliningrad region.

“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,” Putin noted.

The NATO summit was held in June 2021.

As a result, a statement was published, from which it follows that the members of the North Atlantic Alliance consider Moscow's proposal on a moratorium unacceptable and not credible.

"Russia's proposal for a moratorium is incompatible with Russia's unilateral and ongoing deployment of such systems on the European continent and will not prevent Russia from creating such missiles outside its European part," the document said.