In August 2019 the United States withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, citing Russia's alleged violation of the agreement's terms.
Russian President Vladimir Putin Says US exit from Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty was a “grave mistake” which creates the risk of a renewal of the nuclear arms race.
According to the Russian president, the INF Treaty, which Washington left back in 2019, was a key element of the global security architecture, and threats to it in Europe were “obvious” due to tensions between NATO and Russia.
“The Treaty played a special role in maintaining predictability and restraint in the missile-related sector throughout Europe”, the president said.
Moscow added that Russia was “ready” to take the necessary steps to play down the impact caused by the Treaty's demise.
“We also call on all interested countries to search for schemes for maintaining stability and preventing missile crises ‘in a world without an INF Treaty' in relation to the Asia-Pacific region. We are open to joint work in this direction,” the Russian president said while detailing some concrete measures to decrease Russia-US military tensions.
The president's press secretary Dmitry Peskov later clarified that Putin's initiative was brand-new and had not been previously elaborated with international partners.
The US Exit From INF
In February 2019, Washington announced that it was giving a six-month notice of withdrawal from the INF Treaty, the…
