The United States will begin the process of withdrawing from the Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles, if Russia does not begin to abide by it. This process is scheduled to start on February 2.
The date was not chosen randomly. On this day, the ultimatum expires, which Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced to the leadership of Russia.
According to Deputy Secretary of State Andrea Thompson, Russia has not proved that it is fulfilling the INF. And, as is known, the meeting, which took place on January 15 in Geneva, was described by the US representative as disappointing: the negotiations did not bring a breakthrough.
Recall, on January 15, after the talks in Geneva, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that Russia was ready for an open dialogue with the States. But only without ultimatums and demands, but on the basis of equality and mutual respect. In addition, the States themselves must prove that they are in compliance with the INF.
According to Ryabkov, the American so-called target missiles are not much different from the forbidden complexes of short and medium range.
“And the Mk41 universal launchers deployed in Europe can be used both for launching missile defense interceptor missiles and for attack cruise missiles, which are also prohibited by the INF Treaty,” the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister stressed.
It should be noted that the agreement on medium-range and shorter-range missiles prohibits the development, production and storage of land-based attack missiles with a range of from 500 to 5,500 kilometers. Since they can violate the basic principle of mutual nuclear deterrence - a guaranteed retaliatory strike.
