The NATO Secretary General said about “the last chance” of Russia on the implementation of the INF Treaty
MOSCOW, 4 Jan — RIA Novosti. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has called the last chance for Russia to “return” to the Treaty on the elimination of intermediate and shorter-range missiles (INF Treaty) until February, said the Agency dpa.
“I’m not going to speculate about how likely it is that Russia return to compliance (the INF Treaty. — Approx. ed.). It is important that Russia has now one last chance. If Russia does not return to compliance, then we will have a big problem, because the INF Treaty will collapse,” — said the NATO Secretary General in an interview, commenting on statements by Washington that the United States can withdraw from the agreement in February. The text of the interview posted on the official website of the Agency.
U.S. Secretary of state Mike Pompeo 4th of December stated that Russia has two months to “resume” the INF Treaty. He added that if that happens, Washington will suspend obligations under the INF Treaty. Deputy Secretary of state for arms control and international security Andrea Thompson stated that the United States urges Russia to abandon missile 9М729 (SSC-8) or to modify the system to its range, as stated in Washington, did not violate the provisions of the INF Treaty.
In recent years Moscow and Washington have regularly accused each other of violating the INF Treaty. Russia has repeatedly stated that strictly complies with its obligations under the contract. The Minister of foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov noted that Moscow has very serious questions to Washington concerning the implementation of the Treaty by the United States.
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What you need to know about the Treaty of elimination of intermediate-range and shorter-range
History, essence and the importance of the Treaty — in the material “Kommersant”.
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