HELSINKI, September 11. /TASS/. Russia and the United States remain divided over the Intermediate Nuclear Force Treaty, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told the media after two days of consultations with US Under-Secretary of State Thomas Shannon.
"The talks were not without debates and clashes of opinion," he said. "In particular, discussions revolved around such issues as the INF treaty and themes that we find ever more worrisome - the emergence of attack weapons in space, where the American side is unequivocally moving."
"We warn it that such actions will entail destructive effects," Ryabkov said.
In his opinion "in some aspects Russia and the United States have opportunities for practical progress." However, at this point it is too early to discuss them "because extra efforts and thorough research by experts will be required before it can be stated that progress is obvious."
In July 2014 the United States for the first time accused Russia of violating the INF treaty. Washington has since repeated its charges again and again, but Moscow invariably rejected them. Russia makes counter-accusations against the United States of being in breach of the INF treaty.
Also, Moscow said in the past more than once that Washington had never made any specific charges over compliance with the INF treaty. Under that agreement the partakers pledged not to produce, test or deploy ground-launched ballistic or cruise missiles having a medium range (of 1,000 kilometers to 5,500 kilometers) and shorter range (of 500 kilometers to 1,000 kilometers).
The diplomat went on to say that the issue of North Korea was not discussed.
"The agenda did not include any regional subjects," he noted, saying that neither North Korea nor Syria was discussed.