Russia's proposal regarding a moratorium on the deployment of intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles (INF) remains in force, and its relevance is growing. This was announced on Wednesday, October 27, by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"Russia, as you know, has declared a unilateral moratorium on the deployment of medium-range and shorter-range missiles in the Asia-Pacific region and other regions of the world and called for a serious conversation on this issue with all interested states. <...> This Russian proposal remains in force, and its relevance is even growing," he said during the East Asian Summit.
The Russian leader also noted that after the termination of the Treaty on the Elimination of Short- and Medium-Range Missiles (INF) The Asia-Pacific region is facing the prospect of a new round of the arms race.
Earlier in the day, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expressed concern over the US' desire to deploy medium- and shorter-range missiles in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. The Russian Foreign Ministry is convinced that these actions of the United States will significantly disrupt strategic stability, the head of the department said.
On October 25, Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov said that Russia and the United States will discuss the INF in order to avoid an arms race. According to him, in the context of discussing the issue of the Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-range Missiles, it is worth mentioning hypersonic non-nuclear weapons, strategic drones with an emphasis on those that are capable of solving strategic tasks.
Prior to that, on October 14, Jeffrey Eberhardt, the special representative of the US President for nuclear nonproliferation, demanded that the Russian Federation remove the missiles that are allegedly placed there from Europe, since this goes against the INF Treaty. This is how the special representative answered the question about how the administration of US President Joe Biden treats Putin's initiative to impose a moratorium on the deployment of medium-range and shorter-range missiles in Europe.
In turn, corresponding member of the Academy of Military Sciences of the Russian Federation Vladimir Kozin, in an interview with Izvestia, noted that Eberhardt's statement was not based on anything. According to him, the United States did not provide any documentary data either two years ago, or a year ago, or now.
The Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles was concluded between the USSR and the United States in 1987 and prohibited the two States from producing and deploying medium-range and shorter-range ballistic and cruise missiles.
In February 2019, Washington began the procedure for withdrawing from the INF Treaty, accusing Moscow of not fulfilling the points of the document due to the presence of the 9M729 missile, whose flight range allegedly exceeds the permissible norms. In the Russian Federation, these accusations were rejected and expressed readiness to demonstrate the missile that raised questions, but they did not meet halfway in the United States.
