BEIJING, December 28. /TASS/. China thinks that the US decision to exit the INF Treaty may have negative consequences in numerous aspects, Chinese Defense Ministry Spokesperson Wu Qian said.

When asked by a TASS reporter to comment on a recent remark by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov who said that the United States decided to "break" the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty because it needed such missiles for use against China, Wu said: "The unilateral withdrawal of the United States from the treaty will have a negative effect in numerous aspects." "China opposes the US exiting the INF Treaty unilaterally," he added.

The Chinese military officer added that his country sticks to a national defensive strategy and that it is resolved to defend its national security interests.

In an exclusive interview with TASS earlier on Thursday, Lavrov said that Washington had decided to break off the INF Treaty, because it needed the missiles banned under the deal, including against China.

The United States suspended its commitments under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty on February 2, 2019, citing Russia’s alleged violation of the pact. Washington put forward these accusations in July 2014, for the first time. According to the US administration, Russia violated the terms of the INF treaty by creating the 9M729 missile. Moscow dismissed these accusations and laid counter-claims, pointing, in particular, to US missile defense system elements being deployed in Europe. The INF Treaty ceased to exist in August 2019.