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RIA Novosti
Washington again accused Moscow of violating the Treaty on the elimination of intermediate-range and shorter-range nuclear forces (INF). This was stated by U.S. Ambassador to Russia John Tefft.
“We believe that the INF Treaty is important, and we follow the letter of the contract” , — the diplomat said in an interview with radio station “Echo of Moscow”. However, according to him, Moscow “there are serious violations in the creation of new missiles” that is a ” threat not only for us but for our allies.” The Ambassador believes that it is “a serious problem in our bilateral relations”.
Tefft stressed that “the Russian side has not yet recognized” the existence of breaches of contract on their part.
Earlier, some media reported that the US administration estimates received from Congress a proposal for the country’s withdrawal from the Treaty on intermediate-range nuclear forces (INF). The special assistant to the U.S. President and senior Director for non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction in the national security Council, the White house Christopher Ford told RIA Novosti that the US does not want to withdraw from the INF Treaty, I hope for its preservation, and I think it is important to hold dialogue with Russia on strategic stability.
The Russian foreign Ministry said earlier that Moscow is seriously concerned about the use of baseless data for the agreement as a pretext for a campaign about possible retaliatory measures against Russia. The Russian foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the Russian leadership has repeatedly affirmed the commitment to obligations under the INF and ” any wrongdoing on our part.” He noted that “the United States claim otherwise, but provide no specific information that could be checked in order to clarify the situation”. Lavrov also stressed that Moscow “has very serious questions to US about some “liberties” with the implementation of the Treaty by the Americans themselves.