Putin: Russia must respond to America’s actions.
According to Sputnik, the Russian president says that the United States has violated the bilateral agreement with Moscow by producing intermediate-range nuclear weapons.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Friday that Russia should respond to US actions regarding intermediate-range nuclear missiles (INF).
The Russian president said that it seems necessary for Russia to start producing medium-range nuclear missile systems.
Vladimir Putin also suggested that in an operational meeting with the permanent members of the Security Council, Russia’s next steps to unilaterally stop the deployment of medium- and short-range missiles will be discussed.
The President of Russia emphasized: America today not only produces medium-range nuclear missiles, but also deploys them in Europe.
It should be noted that the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty was signed between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, the then Presidents of the United States and the (former) Soviet Union in 1987. They banned the production, purchase or testing of land-based missiles with a range of 300 to 3,400 kilometers.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump, the President of the United States, announced in March 2017 that the country would unilaterally withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.