KUBINKA /Moscow Region/, January 23. /TASS/. Certain forces in the US do not want Moscow to prove that Washington’s allegations concerning the 9M729 missile are wrong, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said at a joint briefing of the Foreign and Defense Ministries on Wednesday.
He pointed out that five years ago, Washington had decided to resume talks with Moscow on compliance with the INF Treaty "only to groundlessly accuse" Russia of violating the document. According to Ryabkov, the US "alleged that we had created and tested a ground-based missile with a range of more than 500 kilometers." "However, during later discussions, which lasted for five years and particularly involved a special control commission, Americans failed to present evidence to prove their allegations that would make it possible to start searching for an expert solution to the issue," the senior Russian diplomat noted.
"Significantly, there was a long period of time when they refused even to clarify which missile they referred to, making hints and citing some intelligence data. Only about a year ago, the United States finally said that the missile in question was the 9M729," he said. However, in Ryabkov’s words, the US still hasn’t explained to Russia "why Washington came to the conclusion that the missile had been tested at a range banned by the INF Treaty."
"Recent developments have made it clear that certain forces in the United States are not interested in giving us a chance to reject their erroneous or fabricated data through expert dialogue, while it would make it possible to close this chapter once and for all. Clearly, the issue has been created and fanned not to be removed from the agenda so easily," Ryabkov stressed.
On January 15, Russia and the US held inter-agency consultations on the INF Treaty in Geneva. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said following the meeting that the US had not even tried to bring the positions of the parties closer, making it clear that it was determined to implement its plans to destroy the Treaty.
The US State Department's Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security Andrea Thompson, who led the US delegation, in turn, once again accused Russia of non-compliance with the document and said that Washington would start the process of pulling out of the INF Treaty on February 2, unless Moscow dismantled its 9M729 missile, which, according to Washington, violates the Treaty.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, a test launch of the missile took place at the Kapustin Yar range during the Zapad-2017 (or West-2017) military exercise on September 18, 2017. The missile covered its maximum range of less than 480 kilometers.