MOSCOW, December 28. /TASS/. The issue whether Russia will continue to adhere to the moratorium on the deployment of land-based intermediate-and shorter-range missiles remains acute due to US actions, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told TASS in an exclusive interview on the results of 2023.

"As the plans for deploying US land-based intermediate and shorter-range missiles in Europe and the Asia-Pacific Region (APR) materialize, the question of further compliance with the moratorium imposed by Russia on the deployment of similar weapons turns more acute against the backdrop of the emergence of the same type US-made weapons in the relevant regions," Lavrov said.

The United States suspended its obligations under the Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missile Elimination Treaty on February 2, 2019 on the pretext of Russia's alleged violation of the agreement. Washington first announced this in July 2014. If the US administration is to be believed, Russia violated the treaty by building the 9M729 missile. Moscow rejected these accusations, presenting a number of counterclaims, concerning, for example, the elements of the US missile defense system in Europe.

In September 2019, it became known that Russian President Vladimir Putin had sent a proposal to the leaders of several countries, including NATO members, for introducing a moratorium on the deployment of intermediate nuclear forces in Europe and other regions. The United States in fact rejected this initiative.