MOSCOW, May 30. /TASS/. The State Duma (Parliament’s lower chamber) will support the bill on suspending the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) submitted by Russian President Vladimir Putin, the chamber’s speaker Vyacheslav Volodin told reporters on Thursday.
"We believe it is right to support the President who introduced the bill on suspending the INF Treaty signed by the Soviet Union and the United States," the speaker said. "There is no doubt that we would like to see global security supported by all the countries, therefore, we provide the President with an opportunity to restore the Treaty, should the situation change," he added.
State Duma Defense Committee Chairman Vladimir Shamanov told reporters that Russia is not planning to immediately start manufacturing intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles shortly after the suspension of the INF Treaty,
"This is not an easy question because in order to technologically develop production, time is needed as well as an assessment how many such missiles are needed and against whom we will target them," Shamanov, the former Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Airborne Troops, said.
"We are not setting this goal," Shamanov stressed.