19.08.2019, Moscow.
Russia remains ready for dialogue with the United States on the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoygu said on August 18 on air of the Russia-24 channel.
“We still leave the door open,” Shoygu said and reminded that Russia repeatedly proposed to resume the dialogue on the INF treaty. “We have opened all sorts of doors in every possible way,” he explained.
According to the Minister of Defense, Russia adheres to the principle that until the US medium-range and shorter-range missiles appear in Europe, “we won’t deploy them either”. He pointed to a similar principle with regard to the US missiles in Asia and the Asia-Pacific region.
On August 2, the United States unilaterally withdrew from the agreement on the elimination of intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles; as a result, the Treaty, which had been in effect since 1987, was terminated.
On August 6, the Secretary of the Russian Security Council, Nikolay Patrushev, said that the withdrawal of the US from the INF treaty was caused solely by the desire to secure worldwide superiority by the US, and the accusations of Russia’s violation of the INF treaty are groundless.
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
