MOSCOW, January 16. /TASS/. The United States will start the process of pulling out of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty) on February 2, the State Department's Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security Andrea Thompson told reporters on Wednesday, adding that the process was expected to take six months.
According to her, no breakthrough was achieved at Tuesday’s US-Russian consultations in Geneva.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, who headed the Russian delegation to the Geneva meeting, said earlier that Moscow had offered to take measures to raise Washington’s grievances concerning the INF Treaty in return for steps in relation to unmanned aerial vehicles, target missiles and the Mk-41 launching systems but the US was not ready for a specific conversation.
"The US tried to make it look like the only issue the Geneva consultations should focus on was the [Russian] 9M729 missile. We cannot accept such an approach, we are ready for dialogue based on the principles of equality and mutual respect, while there can be no ultimatums," Ryabkov said.
INF Treaty situation
The INF Treaty, signed by the Soviet Union and the United States on December 8, 1987, 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.
On October 20, 2018, US President Donald Trump said that Washington would pull out of the INF Treaty because Russia had allegedly violated it. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said it was a dangerous move. Berlin and Beijing criticized Washington, while London voiced its support for the US, and NATO laid the blame for Trump’s decision on Russia.
US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said on December 4, 2018, that Washington would suspend its obligations under the Treaty unless Moscow returned to "full and verifiable" compliance within 60 days. On December 5, Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters that Washington had not provided evidence proving Moscow’s violations of the document. He also said that Russia called for maintaining the Treaty but if the United States pulled out of it, Moscow would have to give an appropriate response.