Russia Open to Arms Inspections to Save Treaty
MOSCOW (Dispatches) -- Russia is ready to discuss mutual inspections with the United States in order to save the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty, RIA news agency cited Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs as saying Friday.
Last week Washington said Russia must scrap its 9M729 nuclear-capable cruise missiles and launchers or modify the weapons' range to return to compliance to the Cold War-era arms control treaty.
It gave Moscow a deadline of 60 days or it would begin to withdraw from the pact.
"If the United States really wants to come to some kind of agreement with us, then we need to sit down at the negotiating table in an inter-agency format and agree on everything in detail. We are ready for this," foreign ministry official Vladimir Yermakov was cited as saying.
Yermakov also said Russia categorically ruled out inspections being carried out on Russia on a unilateral basis but that any serious actions on arms control "are only possible on the basis of mutually legally binding inter-government agreements."
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned last week that Moscow would be forced to respond if Washington withdrew from the nuclear arms control treaty.
Russia, Putin said, would develop missiles currently banned under the INF if the U.S. acted on its threat to abandon the accord and began developing such weapons.
The Russian head of state said the U.S. had decided long ago to pull out of the treaty and was now looking for justifications by blaming Moscow, which he said was opposed to scrapping the accord.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has Washington’s persisting threats to withdraw from the INF pave the way for ruining the new START nuclear weapons pact.
"The impression is given that the ground is simply being prepared for this document (New START) also to be ruined as a result," Lavrov underlined at a press conference in Milan, Italy last week.
Last week Washington said Russia must scrap its 9M729 nuclear-capable cruise missiles and launchers or modify the weapons' range to return to compliance to the Cold War-era arms control treaty.
It gave Moscow a deadline of 60 days or it would begin to withdraw from the pact.
"If the United States really wants to come to some kind of agreement with us, then we need to sit down at the negotiating table in an inter-agency format and agree on everything in detail. We are ready for this," foreign ministry official Vladimir Yermakov was cited as saying.
Yermakov also said Russia categorically ruled out inspections being carried out on Russia on a unilateral basis but that any serious actions on arms control "are only possible on the basis of mutually legally binding inter-government agreements."
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned last week that Moscow would be forced to respond if Washington withdrew from the nuclear arms control treaty.
Russia, Putin said, would develop missiles currently banned under the INF if the U.S. acted on its threat to abandon the accord and began developing such weapons.
The Russian head of state said the U.S. had decided long ago to pull out of the treaty and was now looking for justifications by blaming Moscow, which he said was opposed to scrapping the accord.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has Washington’s persisting threats to withdraw from the INF pave the way for ruining the new START nuclear weapons pact.
"The impression is given that the ground is simply being prepared for this document (New START) also to be ruined as a result," Lavrov underlined at a press conference in Milan, Italy last week.