Russia threatens US with developing ‘more powerful weapons’ if Washington withdraws from INF treaty
If the United States decides to unilaterally withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (Officially: Treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union and later its successor states on the elimination of their intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles, or INF Treaty) the Russian Federation promised to develop a “more powerful weapon,” a senator on the Russian Federation Council and former Commander of the Russian Aerospace Forces, Viktor Bondarev said, RIA.
Bondarev stressed that Russia wants to keep the agreement and reminded of its important role in preventing a nuclear war between Russia and the United States and stopping the arms race. “Unfortunately our contractual party under the agreement occasionally attempts to ruin this agreement, stealthily breaching its terms or openly declaring its intention to withdraw from it,” the senator said.
Despite the fact that the Cold War has been over for decades, the need for the treaty still exists, Bondarev said. According to the senator, Russia views the possible withdrawal of the United States from the treaty as a potential threat, and will respond to it. “Our technical capabilities allow us to produce in a short period of time even more powerful weapons for our troops,” the senator said.
The treaty on the elimination of intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles was signed between the United States and the Soviet Union in 1987. According to the treaty’s terms, both countries agreed not to produce, test or field land-based cruise and ballistic missiles of medium (from 1,000 to 5,500 km) and short (from 500 to 1,000 km) range.
The United States many times accused Russia for violating the agreement, and Russia also made similar claims. In June information appeared that a group of lawmakers in the U.S. Congress suggested the White House pull out of the agreement.
On December 7th, Thomas Shannon, an Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, announced that the United States, given the continuous and multiple violations by Russia of the terms of the INF Treaty began studying the possibility of deploying a military solution.