MOSCOW, April 25. /TASS/. The creation of a US national missile defense system undermines strategic stability. Moscow and Beijing will jointly assess the actions of the West in this area, Vladimir Yermakov, director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Non-Proliferation and Arms Control Department, told TASS in an interview.
"The American national missile defense program is extremely destabilizing, which we have repeatedly pointed out to the US since its withdrawal from the treaty between the United States of America and the Russian Federation on Strategic Offensive Reductions (SORT) in 2002," the diplomat pointed out. "That's why, together with our Chinese friends, we will assess any preparations by Western countries in this regard from the point of view of a buildup of the United States’ national missile defense capability aimed at destabilizing strategic stability."
Yermakov also pointed to the fact that many countries continued to "improve missile, as well as anti-missile weapons." "However, it is important to pay very close attention to how the factor of national missile defense systems affect strategic stability. The interaction in the area of missile defense between the US and other Western countries poses significant problems due to the fact that the national capabilities of Washington's allies are increasingly integrated with elements of the US’ unregulated national missile defense system," the diplomat explained.