DUBAI, October 13. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the United States should not have withdrawn from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty as its concerns could have been removed some other way.
"It think it was a mistake, too, and that they could have gone a different path. I do understand the US concerns. While other countries are free to enhance their defenses, Russia and the US have tied their own hands with this treaty. However, I still believe it was not worth ruining the deal; I believe there were other ways out of the situation," he said in an interview with RT Arabic, Al Arabiya and Sky News TV channels on Sunday ahead of his visit to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
On August 2, 2019, the United States formally withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, signed by the Soviet Union and the United States on December 8, 1987. It applied to deployed and non-deployed ground-based missiles of intermediate range (1,000-5,000 kilometers) and shorter range (500-1,000 kilometers). The US motivated its actions by Russia’s alleged refusal to comply with the American ultimatum-like demand that the new 9M729 cruise missiles be eliminated as violating the INF Treaty. Moscow vehemently dismissed all accusations, saying that the technical parameters of the 9M729 missiles are within the parameters allowed by the treaty and laid counterclaims to Washington.