BERLIN, January 17. / TASS /. There is little hope that the United States and Russia will be able to preserve the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), Chairman of the Munich Security Conference, Wolfgang Ischinger, told journalists in Berlin on Thursday.
"I was in Moscow this week and had the opportunity to talk to people. I came back without much hope regarding the future decision. I will be unexpectedly and pleasantly surprised, if a decision is made," the official stated.
The United States and the USSR signed the INF treaty on December 8, 1987. It came into force on June 1, 1988. The agreement 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 recent years, the US has repeatedly accused Russia of violating the accord. Moscow has vehemently refuted these claims and voiced its own concerns regarding Washington’s compliance with the treaty.
On January 15, Moscow and Washington held inter-departmental consultations on the INF in Geneva. Following the talks, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov stated that the US was not trying to bring the parties together but showed willingness to "bring their position to its logical conclusion and wreck the treaty". In turn, US Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security, Andrea Thompson, accused Russia of violating the agreement and confirmed that the US would begin the process of withdrawing from the INF on February 2, if Moscow does not destroy the 9M729 missile. Washington asserts that this rocket breaches the agreement.