According to a report by the Russian Satellite News Agency on the 26th, Russian President Putin issued a statement on the same day, proposing a series of supplementary measures that will help ease tensions in Europe after the “Intermediate-Range Treaty” expires, calling on relevant countries to seek to maintain stability in the Asia-Pacific region and prevent The plan for the missile crisis.
Putin also said that it was a serious mistake that the United States withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty and caused the treaty to become invalid.
Putin emphasized in the statement that Russia still believes that the “Intermediate Missile Treaty” has played a special role in ensuring the predictability and restraint of the missile field in Europe.
The statement pointed out that it was a very serious mistake for the United States to stop fulfilling the “Intermediate-Range-Range Treaty” and finally withdraw from the treaty. It has aggravated the missile arms race and the risks of potential confrontation and will make the situation escalation difficult to control.
Putin confirmed that Russia has promised not to deploy Russian-made land-based medium- and short-range missiles unless such US-made weapons appear in relevant areas. He called on NATO member states to consider also declaring a moratorium on the deployment of medium- and short-range missiles.
Putin suggested that relevant countries check each other’s deployment. For example, it is possible to check the land-based Aegis system equipped with the MK-41 launcher deployed by the United States and NATO at European bases, and the 9M729 missile at the Kaliningrad State facility of the Russian Federation Armed Forces.
The purpose of the verification is to confirm that the agreement stipulates that the facility does not have land-based medium-range and short-to-medium-range missiles, and that there is no 9M729 missile, the weapon of which the two parties have disputes over equipment performance and classification.
Russia has always confirmed that the deployment of the 9M729 missile is in full compliance with the relevant provisions of the INF Treaty, but Russia is also willing to abandon the deployment of 9M729 in Europe when NATO countries stop deploying weapons and equipment prohibited by the INF Treaty in Europe. missile.
The “Intermediate-Range Missile Treaty” signed by the Soviet Union and the United States in 1987 stipulates that the two countries no longer maintain, produce or test land-based cruise missiles, ballistic missiles and their launching devices with a range of 500 to 5500 kilometers.
In February 2019, the United States unilaterally initiated the procedure for withdrawing from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. In August of the same year, the United States formally withdrew from the treaty.
