Russia: No reason to revise military doctrine after INF Treaty termination
Marina Kortunova
Press TV, Moscow
Russia says it sees no reason to review its military doctrine following the US withdrawal and termination of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said the fundamental document is conceptually focused on the future, and its wording is extremely verified and should not be straightened or changed somehow depending on certain circumstances. Ryabkov called the US “the murderer of the treaty” after its unilateral withdrawal from the INF, the key cold-war nuclear agreement. He also pointed out that any further steps regarding arms control should take into consideration missile and nuclear potentials of France and the United Kingdom.
Meanwhile, President Putin said Russia won’t be the first to deploy INF-banned munitions and will act only in response to potential US actions. Moscow warned that the US decision to withdraw risks an “unrestricted” arms race. Answering Press TV’s question about possible arms race and US political posturing, Ryabkov noted that someone in the US expects that through this arms race it will be possible to force the geopolitical opponents to be weakened and exhausted.
Following the US withdrawal from the INF, Russia says US conspired to leave the treaty to be able to develop new missiles. The UN also warned that "an invaluable brake on nuclear war" is being lost. Analysts fear that the collapse of the key treaty could lead to a new arms race between the US, Russia and China.
The Strategic Offensive Arms Reduction Treaty (START-3), signed in 2010, remains the only current arms limitation treaty between Russia and the United States. The agreement expires in February 2021, and so far the US administration has not announced whether Washington intends to extend it.
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