“The Presidential Decree on the suspension of the INF Treaty is a forced and symmetrical measure. We are not talking about withdrawal from the treaty, Russia is freezing its obligations under the INF Treaty in the context of its violation by the American partners,” said Leonid Slutskiy
Leonid Eduardovich
.
He noted that this step is “exclusively defensive in nature” and that Russia is not interested “in creating tension or new missile crises on the European continent.”
“We have made all possible efforts from a political and military point of view to save the treaty. We offered Washington a set of concrete measures for settlement, we even took unprecedentedly transparent steps to prove that the Russian side did not violate the INF Treaty. However, all of our initiatives were turned down. The United States consistently and systematically realized a policy aimed at withdrawal,” said the parliamentarian.
Leonid Slutskiy stressed that Russia is open to discussion of the future of the INF Treaty, ”but the ball is now in the court of the United States.“
“We will not put forward our initiatives until the American partners are ready for an equal and sound dialogue,” the Chairman of the Committee concluded.
Adalbi Shkhagoshev
Adalby Lyulevich
, First Deputy Chairman of the United Russia faction, member of the Security and Corruption Control Committee, noted that “we constantly hear from the United States that they act to protect the national interests of the country. The same was when Washington announced the suspension of the fulfillment of its obligations under the INF Treaty.”
“Russia, taking its decision to suspend the implementation of the INF Treaty, also acts for the same reasons. By signing the relevant Decree, the President protects the national interests of Russia, our borders, our territories — no more, no less. And we must not forget that any contract is a two-way road,” said the parliamentarian.
