ST. PETERSBURG, June 2. /TASS/. The Paris Climate Agreement will be ineffective without the United States, Russian Presidential Aide Andrei Belousov told reporters on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

"As far as I understand, it is not the final withdrawal," he said. "The US administration said they sought for a more fair solution to these issues. But anyway, I regret this decision because it is not appropriate to change a decision you made," the Kremlin aide pointed out. "It is obvious that without the United States, the Paris Agreement will be INEFFECTIVE since the US is one of the major greenhouse gas emitters," Belousov said.

According to him, Russia’s plans concerning its participation in the Paris Agreement did not depend on its counterparts, even as important as the US. He added that Russia was still assessing this decision.

The Paris Agreement was adopted on December 12, 2015, at the COP-21 UN Climate Change Conference held in the capital of France. The 195 forum participants agreed to avert a rise in the average global air temperature by more than 2 degrees Celsius by the year 2100 compared to the preindustrial era. Scientists believe higher temperatures may bring about irreversible consequences for the environment.

On April 22, 2016, as many as 175 countries, including Russia, Germany, India, China and the United States, signed the agreement at a summit held at the United Nations headquarters.

According to the agreement, by 2025, the US was to reduce gas emissions by 26-28% in comparison with the levels seen ten years ago. On Thursday, US President Donald Trump announced that the country would pull out of the agreement.