Kremlin Points to US Missile-Testing Plans as Proof Washington Sought INF Breakdown

MOSCOW- The US plans to test missiles banned by the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty come as a “logical continuation” of Washington’s position, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.

“We [Russia] categorically disagree with any reproaches against us to the effect that we have not kept loyalty to this document [the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty]. On the contrary, we demonstrated to all, using arguments and proof, that precisely the United States became the source of dismantling this document as it actually made breaches [of this treaty],” the Kremlin spokesman said.

The United States used systems that “de facto were in violation of the basic provisions of the INF Treaty, Peskov said.

 “It is the US, and not Russia, that violated the provisions of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. It is the US that included a provision on R&D on these missiles in the draft budget,” the Kremlin spokesman said.

In Peskov’s opinion, “naturally, the R&D implementation is frequently impossible without tests.”

“That is why, this [the missile-testing plans] are a logical continuation of the situation,” the Russian presidential spokesman said.

TASS

R.S