Russia Addresses Treaty Withdrawal

(MENAFN) Russia now affirms it has the authority to station land-based intermediate-range missiles “when deemed necessary,” according to Kremlin representative Dmitry Peskov.

This declaration comes in the wake of the dissolution of the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty with the United States.

Previously, Moscow had refrained from placing such weaponry in specific zones, provided that Washington and its partners did not take the first step.

On Monday, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs declared that the “actions of Western countries” had rendered the country's compliance with the moratorium impossible, claiming they posed a “direct threat” to the nation’s safety.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Peskov clarified that Russia “no longer has any limitations in this regard” and “no longer considers itself bound by anything.”

He emphasized that the country now retains the option to deploy the missiles “when deemed necessary.”

However, the Kremlin official did not clarify whether any formal choices regarding missile deployment had already been reached.

“One can hardly expect any announcements here,” Peskov remarked, framing the issue as a matter of national security and “a sensitive and secretive field.”

The INF Treaty, forged between the United States and the Soviet Union, prohibited the use of ground-launched missiles with a range of 500 to 5,500 kilometers.

The accord unraveled in 2019 after Washington unilaterally exited the agreement during President Donald Trump’s initial term.

The US defended its withdrawal by alleging that Russia had breached the deal — an accusation that Moscow firmly rejected, countering that it was the US that had been creating prohibited missile systems.

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