Russia announced its rejection of the moratorium on the deployment of medium- and short-range missiles: the National Security and Defense Council responded
On August 4, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia announced Moscow’s refusal of a unilateral moratorium on the deployment of medium- and short-range missiles. This is reported by the Russian mass media.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation explained the decision by the “build-up of destabilizing missile potentials in the regions adjacent to Russia” by the “collective West”. As noted, the Russian authorities will take measures regarding the possible placement of missiles based on an assessment of “the deployment of American and other Western missile defense systems.”
The Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate and Short-Range Missiles, signed in 1987 by Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan, was the first agreement between superpowers to reduce nuclear weapons and eliminate an entire category of nuclear weapons.
Following the termination of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, Russia announced a unilateral moratorium, which the Kremlin said was to be in place until NATO began deploying its own missiles.
Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Center for countering disinformation at the NSDC named Russia’s decision is formal:
“Because they have been on the alert since 2019, when Trump withdrew from the INF Treaty due to a Russian violation. The Iskanders were already in Crimea then. Now this is being presented as an “answer” to “Western escalation” and aid to Ukraine, but the meaning is purely propaganda.”
According to him, this step will not affect the balance of power:
“Unless Moscow will be able to continue to frighten Belarus with the “hazelnut” – the one that did not fly during the second launch.”
