THE UNITED NATIONS, October 22. /TASS/. Moscow will unilaterally adhere to the moratorium on deploying short and medium-range missiles as long as US does not deploy such missiles in certain regions, Russia's deputy permanent representative to the UN office in Geneva Andrey Belousov said at the UN General Assembly First Committee session.

"The US destroyed the treaty in order to greenlight the uncontrolled build-up of their nuclear potential," Belousov said.

He noted that Russia strives to prevent new missile crises. "We have announced unilaterally and will adhere to the moratorium on deploying short and medium-range ground-based missiles as long as US does not deploy such missiles in certain regions," he stressed. He called on the US and their allies "to make similar reciprocal steps."

Belousov also expressed concerns over continuing uncertainty over the future of the New Strategic Arms Reducation Treaty (New START) which expires in less than 1.5 years. "In the current conditions, extending this agreement would be a reasonable step which will allow us to prevent final degradation in the sphere of strategic stability and win more time for considering possible approaches to new weapons and military equipment that are being developed in the world," he concluded.