The United States has not provided Russia with specific proof to substantiate its claims that the ground-launched SSC-8 cruise missile (Russian designation 9M729) violated the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told Sputnik Thursday.
“We fulfill the contract in full, without exemptions, without exceptions, without deviations from the requirements. Our 9M729 system has never been tested for a range banned by the contract. We see no other reasons why the United States would make claims to us regarding the treaty and specifically regarding this system. The United States was unable to provide us with specific reasons why it concluded that this missile did not not meet the requirements of the treaty,” the official said.
According to Ryabkov, US claims on Russia’s alleged violations are nothing more than “sweet icing used to cover a void position.”
Russia does not understand whether the United States wants the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty to be ended or is ready to work jointly with Russia to preserve the agreement, Ryabkov added.
“We don’t understand the essence of the US current position. Do our partners in Washington want us to work toward preserving the treaty or have they finally decided that following suspension of the treaty, as they told us clearly at the consultations [in Geneva], the official and complete withdrawal from the treaty will follow?” the official added.
Ryabkov recalled Russia’s statements on US deploying Aegis Ashore systems in Europe and the capacity of these systems to fire missiles banned under the treaty.