Russia has no plans to quit INF treaty — diplomat
Washington’s withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on Iran’s nuclear program will trigger a headache for everyone, a diplomat says
MOSCOW, September 26. /TASS/. Russia has not violated the intermediate nuclear force (INF) treaty and it has no intention of quitting it, the director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s non-proliferation and weapons control department, Mikhail UIyanov, told a news conference on Tuesday.
"Attempts to have a discussion (with the United States) have failed so far. Russia has not violated the treaty and it is not going to quit it," he said.
Ulyanov said that all of the US charges against Russia over suspected violations of the INF treaty were groundless.
"The Americans are very superficial in their conclusions and evaluations," he said. "We’ve heard such charges for the past two years but the United States has not presented any proof to back up its accusations at least one occasion. That’s not the way of doing business in international relations."
"It remains unclear what we are to refute," he went on to say. "In the meantime our own criticism addressed to the United States remains unanswered.
Ulyanov recalled the United States’ efforts to develop attack drones falling under the operation of the INF treaty and also the transfer of MK-41 systems from ships to the ground. Some MK-41s were installed in Romania as part of an element of a global missile defense.
It is necessary to settle controversies over the INF treaty as soon as possible.
"We are prepared for such a discussion with the Americans. As soon as the new US administration is ready for this, we will take part in it," Ulyanov said.
Washington’s withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran’s nuclear program will trigger a headache for everyone, he went on.
"If Americans don’t like something about this agreement, this is not a reason to ditch it. If the US choses this path, all of us will have a severe headache," the diplomat said.
The diplomat stressed that this will be "a very bad example for North Korea." "It will show Pyongyang that the attempts to make agreements may be disrupted by key participants of deals without any pretext," he added.