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Diplomat repudiates narrative that Russia’s moves drive US into abandoning INF deal

The diplomat reiterated that Moscow's stance had always been to preserve the treaty

MOSCOW, November 19. /TASS/. The US withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty) will trigger grave consequences for global security and Russia rejects the narrative that its steps are pushing Washington into these measures, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told reporters on Monday.

"We are watching all commentaries of US officials on the INF Treaty," Ryabkov said. "Our stance is certainly to preserve the treaty."

"We believe that the US plans to withdraw from the INF Treaty, in case [this scenario] is implemented, will trigger a grave aftermath for European and global security. We deny any logic that tries to attribute to us actions, which allegedly pushed Washington to declare the plans to withdraw from the treaty," Ryabkov said.

The high-ranking diplomat emphasized that any attempts to blame Russia for non-complying with the treaty due to tests or any other steps related to the 9M729 cruise missile are unfounded. "They are largely explained by the US desire to find pretexts to get rid of the restrictions, which were stipulated by the agreement," he stressed.

Moscow noted that long before declaring the plans to leave the INF Treaty the special US structures had started conducting a research on the systems, which are banned by the treaty, according to Ryabkov.

US President Donald Trump said on October 20 that his country would quit the INF Treaty because Russia was allegedly in breach of that agreement. Washington was criticized in Berlin and Beijing. In the meantime, London came out in support of the United States and NATO placed the responsibility for Trump’s decision on Russia, because in its opinion Moscow had apparently violated the treaty.

The INF Treaty was signed on December 8, 1987 and took effect on June 1, 1988. It outlawed deployed and non-deployed intermediate range (1,000-5,000 kilometers) and shorter range (500-1,000 kilometers) ground-based missiles. In recent years Washington has repeatedly alleged Russia was in breach of the agreement. Moscow emphatically dismissed the charges and countered them with its own claims over the United States’ non-compliance.