MOSCOW, July 31. /TASS/. Those who seized the levers of control in the United States systematically pressed for ruining the intermediate and shorter-range missiles elimination treaty (INF Treaty) "so that nothing might restrict them in their absolute lawlessness," Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Radio Sputnik, adding that Washington had no regrets in this regard.
As for the mood in the United States five years after the withdrawal from the INF Treaty, Zakharova said that "it is not heterogeneous."
"Probably, some circles that had foreseen the consequences of the destruction of international legal foundations, including those in the sphere of security and strategic stability, did have some regrets, because those in their right mind understood what it would lead to," Zakharova said. "But globally, those who seized the levers of control in the United States - the so-called the deep state - which has caught entire democracy in its web, turning it into an American-style democracy, of course, have no regrets exactly because this is what they wanted."
"They were pressing for relieving the US of any obligations that equalize all countries of the world in their rights and make each country a responsible actor that plays not by some invented rules, but by the rules of international law. That is why they systematically pulled out of many agreements," Zakharova explained.
Moscow, as she pointed out, has repeatedly emphasized that Washington quit the treaty under far-fetched pretexts.
"It was repeatedly said that all pretexts were far-fetched, that deliberate dismantling of the international security system and strategic stability was in progress. A platform is being cleared of the debris of international law where the US and its satellites could build their own system of world hegemonism, which would enable them to continue their policy of domination on an even larger scale, in even more destructive ways. Where nothing could restrain and limit them in their absolute lawlessness, which we are now witnessing," Zakharova said.
INF Treaty
The treaty between the Soviet Union and the United States on the elimination of intermediate and shorter-range missiles was signed on December 8, 1987 and entered into force on June 1, 1988. It was the first document in history on the real reduction of existing weapons. The INF Treaty prevented the deployment of missile launchers, ground-based ballistic missiles and cruise missiles with a range of 500 to 5,500 kilometers. In 2019, the US withdrew from the agreement. Moscow was prepared not to produce or deploy missiles as long as Washington refrained from deploying these systems in some region of the world.
However, the US, as Russian President Vladimir Putin pointed out, not only makes these missiles, but has already brought them to Europe and the Philippines. Russia is now working on retaliatory measures. Resumed production and deployment of these missiles is a possibility.