US Confirms Pullout from INF Treaty, Moscow Will Respond If Missiles Placed In Europe

Local Editor

Washington confirmed its decision to withdraw from the INF treaty is final, Russia’s deputy foreign minister Sergey Ryabkov said, adding that Moscow will 'take measures' if American missiles that threaten its security are placed in Europe.

“Washington publicly announced its plans to withdraw from the treaty [the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces] already in October. Through the high-level bilateral channels it was confirmed to us that this decision was final and wasn’t an attempt to initiate dialogue,” Ryabkov told the Kommersant newspaper.

He further stressed that Moscow will respond to possible attempts to place short and intermediate range nuclear-capable missiles in Europe if the US decides to go on with this plan.

“We’ll be forced to come up with effective compensating measures. I’d like to warn against pushing the situation towards the eruption of new ‘missile crises.’ I am convinced that no sane country could be interested in something like this,” he said.

Back in October, US President Donald Trump warned that Washington was planning unilateral withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces [INF] treaty because “Russia has not adhered to the agreement.”

Trump also promised that the country would keep boosting its nuclear arsenal until Russia and China “come to their senses.”

Earlier this month, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that Washington will suspend its obligations under the treaty within 60 days if Russia does not “return to compliance.”

Signed in late 1988, the INF agreement was considered a milestone in ending the arms race between the US and the USSR.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team