Foreign Ministry
spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that the INF Treaty situation concerns not
only Moscow and Washington, but other members of the international community as
well.
MOSCOW, November 1.
/TASS/. The United States is waging a large-scale propaganda campaign against
Russia, seeking to shift the responsibility for its plans to quit the
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty), Russian Foreign Ministry
Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters on Thursday.
"While
undermining the INF Treaty, the US is waging a large-scale propaganda campaign,
seeking to make the world believe that its withdrawal is caused by Russia’s
violations of the document," she said. "Such an approach is totally
inappropriate, and attempts to shift the responsibility to Russia are
absolutely unacceptable," Zakharova added.
The Russian diplomat
pointed out that the US had not bothered to clearly justify its claims.
"These claims remain groundless and are openly provocative," she
noted. "We would like to state once again that our country has been
strictly abiding by the treaty, while Washington seeks to cover up its own
violations by putting forward groundless accusations against us," Zakharova
pointed out.
According to her, the
situation surrounding the INF Treaty concerns not only Moscow and Washington
but other members of the international community as well. "We call on all
who realize their responsibility for the future of global stability and
security, to send a clear signal to Washington that its plans are
dangerous," Zakharova stressed.
INF Treaty situation
On October 20, US
President Donald Trump said that Washington would pull out of the INF Treaty
because Russia had allegedly violated it.
The INF Treaty was
concluded on December 8, 1987, and took effect on June 1, 1988. It applies to
deployed and non-deployed ground-based missiles of intermediate range
(1,000-5,000 kilometers) and shorter range (500-1,000 kilometers). In the
recent years, Washington has been repeatedly accusing Russia of violating the
treaty. Moscow strongly dismissed the accusations and voiced its own claims
concerning Washington’s non-compliance.
At the same time,
Trump does not rule out that a new treaty may be signed with Russia and China,
provided they give assurances they will stop developing these kinds of weapons.
Source: ITAR-TASS
02-11-2018
