MOSCOW, January 27. /TASS/. Discussing limitations on the deployment of intermediate-and shorter-range missiles (the post-INF proposal) separately from the common security architecture is inviable, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.
"It is certainly possible to talk about the post-INF in isolation but such contacts on this issue are hardly viable, if taken separately from the general issues of the common architecture of security and strategic security," the Russian presidential spokesman pointed out.
On January 26, the United States and NATO handed over their written replies to proposals on security guarantees, which Moscow demands from Washington and Brussels.
On December 17, the Russian Foreign Ministry published Russia’s two draft agreements on security guarantees, which Moscow expects from Washington and NATO. The agreements with the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization stipulate, among other things, the US-led bloc abandoning its eastward expansion designs along with denying membership to Ukraine, in addition to restrictions on deploying serious offensive armaments, in particular, nuclear weapons.
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.