LONDON, October 27. /TASS/. The British government hopes that Russia will demonstrate its commitment to arms control and non-proliferation, the Foreign Office said in a message to TASS in response to a request for a comment on Russian President Vladimir Putin's call upon NATO countries to minimize the effects of the collapse of Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty.
"The UK is committed to international arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. We want Russia to demonstrate the same commitment," the Foreign Office said. It reiterated London's official stance "the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty failed as a direct result of Russia violating it."
Putin's proposal
The INF Treaty, which prohibited Moscow and Washington from having ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with a range of 500 kilometers to 5,500 kilometers, was signed in 1987. It was terminated in August 2019. In September 2019 there reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin had invited the leaders of a number of countries, including NATO members to introduce a moratorium on the deployment of such missiles in Europe and other regions. The United States in fact dismissed the initiative.
On Monday, October 26, Putin reaffirmed Russia would remain committed to the moratorium on the deployment of intermediate and shorter range missiles as long as similar class missile weapons of US manufacture were absent from the corresponding regions. He stressed the relevance of the call on the NATO countries for declaring a reciprocal moratorium and voiced the readiness for "further steps to minimize the negative effects of the INF Treaty's collapse on the basis of principles of equal and indivisible security and respect for the balance of interests."