Iran Press/ Europe: If the US continues to withdraw unilaterally from the agreements, then Russia will adopt a range of retaliatory measures, including military ones, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov stated according to Sputnik.
Sergei Ryabkov said that Moscow is alarmed by US "blackmailing attempts" amid Trump's announcement of a withdrawal from the INF treaty.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister said that the US accusations toward Russia regarding the INF treaty seem to be aimed at concealing its own violations of the treaty.
Ryabkov added that the US has no reason to say that Russia is violating the INF treaty, and that all of the accusations were unsubstantiated.
Russia will continue to insist on dialogue with the US on resolving issues with the INF treaty, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister stressed.
Before that Russian foreign ministry stated that Washington's move to pull out of a landmark nuclear weapons treaty with Russia is motivated by a dream of a single global superpower.
"The main motive is a dream of a unipolar world. Will it come true? No," a Russian foreign ministry source told RIA Novosti state news agency on Saturday.
On Saturday, US President Donald Trump accused Russia of violating the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty and announced that Washington will withdraw from the treaty.
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Trump: U.S. leaves intermediate-range nuclear forces treaty with Russia
Meanwhile, Russian senator Alexei Pushkov wrote on Twitter that the move was "the second powerful blow against the whole system of strategic stability in the world" with the first being Washington's 2001 withdrawal from the Anti- Ballistic Missile treaty." "And again the initiator of the dissolution of the agreement is the US," Pushkov wrote.
The Guardian reported on Friday that Trump’s third national security adviser, John Bolton, a longstanding opponent of arms control treaties, was pushing for US withdrawal.
US hawks have also argued that the INF treaty ties the country’s hands in its strategic rivalry with China in the Pacific, with no response to Chinese medium-range missiles that could threaten US bases, allies and shipping.
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