Media: Russia is trying to include China in the negotiations on Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty
Russia has asked China to take part in negotiations on Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, reported Nikkei, citing sources familiar with the situation.
According to the news agency, the proposal was given in October, and “apparently, Beijing did not reject this idea.”
A source close to the Russian government told the agency that Russian president Vladimir Putin might have touched on the topic of inviting China to the negotiations in a short conversation with US President Donald Trump in Buenos Aires at the G20 summit.
Earlier, both President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Michael Pompeo stated that the United States would leave this treaty because Russia is violating it.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov voiced another reason: “the US above all is interested in the Asian side of things, in which they would like to still compensate the “unfair” lack of medium and short-range missiles.” According to the minister, Trump’s aide John Bolton made this clear during his visit to Moscow. Lavrov clarified that the Americans asked Moscow about the involvement of China, India, Pakistan, and Iran, into the process of limiting the number of these missiles.
At the same time, Lavrov clarified that Moscow suggested the Americans independently find out from these countries their position.
The US has repeatedly accused Russia of violating this treaty. Later, NATO countries also joined in these accusations. The West believes that the treaty is being violated by the 9M729 missile, being developed in Russia.
Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan signed the Treaty on the Elimination of Medium and Short-Range Missiles in 1987.
On Sunday, October 21, during his speech in front of his supporters in Nevada, Trump announced that he wants to leave the INF Treaty. “We will not allow anyone to violate the terms of this agreement,” he said. Russia and the United States periodically accuse each other of violating this agreement.
In response to Trump’s words, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Moscow is ready to respond to Trump’s threat of withdrawing from the agreement. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov explained that Russia is prepared to respond if Washington continues to withdraw from agreements and arrangements unilaterally. He added that measures against the U.S. could be "of a military-technical nature."