Putin suspends Russia’s participation in Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles Treaty
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree on the suspension of Russia’s participation in the Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles Treaty (INF), which was signed between Ronald Raegan and Mikhail Gorbachev in 1987, reads the statement on the Kremlin’s website.
According to the decree text, the decision was made because of “the United States violation of its obligations under the contract." The Russian Foreign Ministry will have to officially notify the United States and the decree will come into force today, March 4th.
Earlier, NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, said that Moscow has the last opportunity to return to compliance with the treaty and urged to take advantage of this opportunity. Stoltenberg stressed that NATO is not seeking a new arms race and will not deploy new nuclear missiles in Europe.
Please be reminded that Washington and NATO believe that the Russian Federation violated the INF Treaty by creating the 9M729 rocket, capable of flying more than 500 kilometers. In turn, the Russian military argue that 9M729 cannot overcome the 500-kilometer limit.
In December 2018, the United States threatened to withdraw from the agreement if Russia did not return to the fulfillment of its contractual obligations within 60 days. At the end of two months, Washington announced the suspension of participation in the INF Treaty.