Germany calls on Russia to take a prohibited cruise missile out of service
To maintain the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), Moscow should take out of service the cruise missile that violates agreements with the USA, stated German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, Welt reports.
"Moscow has the key to maintaining the INF Treaty. If Russia wants to maintain the treaty, it should disarm so that it could be checked,” Maas said and added that "Russia violated the treaty by developing and putting a prohibited cruise missile [9M729 missile] into service."
Maas said that there is a need to develop new international rules of missile control together with other countries that have similar weapons. "Scales changed after the Cold War. We should create new global rules of transparency and control. And that is why we take part in the discussion with such countries as China and India,” he added.
On December 4, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stated that the USA will suspend their INF treaty obligations if Russia does not comply with it. Russian President Vladimir Putin responded that the USA did not provide any evidence of Russia's violation of the Treaty.