The Russian ambassador to Washington, Anatoly Antonov, noted that the Russian Federation, together with foreign partners, is ready to make efforts to prevent a new missile arms race.
Earlier, the US President’s National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien announced that the United States was ready to deploy hypersonic weapons and ballistic missiles in Europe to restrain Russia.
According to the Russian diplomatic representative, such statements pose a threat of “imbalance” in regional and global security.
“If Washington is really interested in ‘real arms control’, then there is no need for an escalation of the missile arms race on the European continent”, – Antonov said. His words are quoted on the official Facebook page of the embassy.
He also called President Vladimir Putin’s proposal to de-escalate amid the termination of the INF Treaty “a constructive alternative”.
“Russia is ready for joint efforts with foreign partners to prevent a new missile arms race on the European continent and in other regions of the world”, – the ambassador added.
The de facto termination of the INF-Treaty, one of the pillars of the global strategic stability system, occurred after the US decision in August 2019 to withdraw from it, allegedly due to violations by Russia.
Washington accused Moscow of developing and testing the banned 9M729 missile (SSC-8 according to NATO classification).
The Russian side claims that the missile has a permitted range of less than 500 kilometers. The United States also explained its intention to leave the agreement by the fact that China did not become a party to it.