Rex Tillerson
U.S. Secretary of state Rex Tillerson said Russia was violated the agreement on non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. He said this during a meeting of the UN Security Council, which focused on the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, reports RIA Novosti.
“In recent years, Russia has sometimes acted in a manner that weakens the global rules and undermines the principle of responsible Nations. Examples of this include the violation of Russia’s own commitments to the Treaty on the elimination of intermediate-range and shorter-range nuclear forces (INF), failure to comply with security assurances that were given at the end of the cold war, impeding efforts to develop the legacy of past efforts on nuclear safety, and attempts to undermine the independence of the IAEA in the investigation of covert nuclear programs,” said Tillerson.
He also called on Moscow to explore how best to support efforts to prevent proliferation of such weapons. In addition, Tillerson reminded that Russia and the USA bear special responsibility for the maintenance of the regime of nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
On 20 September the Minister of foreign Affairs of Russia Sergey Lavrov said that Moscow and Washington still have questions on the Treaty on the elimination of intermediate-range and shorter-range, and consultations on this issue will continue.
The INF Treaty does not allow parties to have ballistic missiles, land-based and cruise missiles with a range of from 500 to 5.5 thousand kilometers. The document was signed in 1987.