MOSCOW, December 8. /TASS/. Russia adheres to its moratorium on the deployment of intermediate and shorter-range missiles, but it will not ignore new missile risks due to the actions of the US and will respond quickly to the emergence of such threats, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a briefing on Thursday.
"It is clear that Russia will not ignore the emergence of new missile risks. Nevertheless, at present, we remain committed to our unilaterally declared moratorium on the deployment of land-based intermediate and shorter-range missiles, until similar US-made weapons appear in the respective regions. If that happens, we will have to respond swiftly, effectively and forcefully to any threats that emerge to our security," the diplomat stressed.
Zakharova reiterated that it has been 35 years since Moscow and Washington signed the INF Treaty, but the US withdrew from it in 2019. The United States is fast-tracking programs for creating ground-based intermediate and shorter-range missiles, although the deployment of such systems in different parts of the world will undermine global security and trigger a new round of the arms race, the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman stressed.
"As a result, a vacuum has developed in the international legal regulation of a whole segment of nuclear missile weapons, which is fraught with more security risks. That such risks are likely to evolve into direct threats can be seen in Washington's active implementation of a wide range of destabilizing programs for creating ground-based INF weapons, meant for deployment in various regions of the world. Obviously, such steps will significantly harm regional and global security. They will also push the world towards further missile proliferation and a new round in the race of such weapons, which our countries managed to avoid 25 years ago," Zakharova said.
"Literally a few days ago, it was reported that the US Army received a prototype of a new medium-range system with a full set of ground equipment, including four launchers. This is already the second system of this category that the US troops have received for training," the spokeswoman added.