Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin confirmed Moscow’s intention to respond in case the United States deployed new missiles in Europe in light of the expiration of the “missile treaty” between Moscow and Washington.
“In the event that the United States does not respond to our call and start deploying its missiles in Europe, we reserve our right to take appropriate response steps,” Fomin said – in statements reported by Russia Today news channel on Sunday.
The Russian military official mentioned that Moscow had offered the United States to join the Russian ban on the deployment of medium and short-range missiles to reduce the negative consequences of the destruction of the Russian-American “missile treaty” by Washington.
He added that the two countries’ agreement on mutual control measures over weapons, about which both sides previously expressed concern, could contribute greatly to the realization of the Russian proposals.
On August 2, 2019, the United States officially ended its participation in the Intermediate and Short-Range Missile Treaty, which had restricted this type of weapon since the late 1980s.
Washington has accused Moscow of violating this treaty by deploying winged missiles belonging to the “Iskander-M” system, but Moscow has repeatedly confirmed that the range of the mentioned missiles did not violate the treaty, directing at the same time counterpart remarks to the American side.
On February 5, 2019, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced that Moscow would respond to Washington’s decision to stop its participation in the missile treaty by developing a ground version of the “Caliber” long-range winged missile system, as well as a ground-based long-range hypersonic missile system.
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