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December 6, 2018

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Putin hits out at US claims on nuclear pact

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin yesterday dismissed US claims that Russia was violating a major Cold War treaty limiting mid-range nuclear arms, while a senior general lashed out at Washington’s attempts to “contain” Moscow.

The tense rhetoric comes a day after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington would withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty within 60 days if Russia does not dismantle missiles that the US claims breach the deal.

“First the American side stated its intention to withdraw from the treaty ... then it began to look for the justifications for doing so,” Putin said in comments carried by Russian news agencies.

“The primary justification is that we are violating something. At the same time, as usual, no evidence of violations on our part has been provided,” he said.

The comments echoed earlier statements from the Russian foreign ministry, which dismissed the accusations against Moscow as “groundless.”

In October, US President Donald Trump sparked global concern by declaring the United States would pull out of the deal and build up America’s nuclear stockpile “until people come to their senses.”

But on Monday, the US leader said he wants talks with Putin “to head off a major and uncontrollable arms race.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said facts had been distorted “in order to camouflage the true goal of the US withdrawing from the treaty.”

Meanwhile, the Russian Army Chief of Staff Vasily Gerasimov said Moscow would increase the capabilities of its ground-based strategic nuclear arms.

“One of the main destructive factors complicating the international situation is how the US is acting as it attempts to retain its dominant role in the world,” he said in comments released by the defense ministry.

“It is for these purposes that Washington and its allies are taking comprehensive, concerted measures to contain Russia and discredit its role in international affairs.”

EU diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini yesterday urged Russia and the US to save the treaty.

Mogherini pleaded for the treaty to be saved, warning that Europe did not want to become a battlefield for global powers once again, as it had been during the Cold War.

“The INF has guaranteed peace and security in European territory for 30 years now,” Mogherini said as she arrived for talks with NATO foreign ministers.

“It has to be fully implemented, so I hope that the time that is there to work on preserving the treaty and achieving its full implementation can be used wisely from all sides, and we will definitely try to make our part to make sure this happens.”

Signed in 1987 by then US President Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader, the INF resolved a crisis over Soviet nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles targeting Western capitals.

But it was a bilateral treaty between the US and the then Soviet Union, so it puts no restrictions on other major military actors.

Pompeo said at a meeting with fellow NATO foreign ministers on Tuesday that there was no reason why the US “should continue to cede this crucial military advantage” to rival powers.

The Trump administration has complained of Moscow’s deployment of Novator 9M729 missiles, which Washington says fall under the treaty’s ban on missiles that can travel distances of between 500 and 5,500 kilometers.

The nuclear-capable Russian cruise missiles are mobile and hard to detect, and can hit cities in Europe with little or no warning, according to NATO, dramatically changing the security calculus on the continent.




 

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