Lavrov:

Possible US Exit from INF Treaty to Be Met with Russian 'Counteraction'

TEHRAN (defapress)- Commenting on the possible US withdrawal from INF, Lavrov reiterated that a decision to do so would be met with firm opposition from Moscow.

News ID: 73228

Date: 22 October 2018 - 16:00

US National Security Advisor John Bolton arrived in Moscow on Monday for a series of talks with senior Russian officials, including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev, Sputnik reported.

Washington has not yet formally begun to implement the procedure for withdrawing from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) arms control deal, Sergei Lavrov said on Monday.

"The treaty itself contains a procedure which provides for the possibility of withdrawing from the treaty. But this procedure hasn't yet been initiated," the foreign minister explained.

"Of course, as we have stated repeatedly, and President Putin has confirmed at the Valdai Forum in Sochi, any action in this area would be met with opposition, because strategic stability can only be achieved on the basis of parity. Such parity will be preserved in all circumstances. We are responsible for global stability, and hope that the United States will not give up its share of responsibility as well," the top Russian diplomat said.

Lavrov also emphasized that Russia was ready to renew the New START Treaty, and was prepared for dialogue with Washington on the issue. However, all issues, whether relating to the New START or the INF, should be discussed in a "professional" manner "in accordance with the procedures that are stipulated by each of these treaties," he said.

For his part, Russian presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov categorically denied Washington's claims that Moscow was violating the provisions of the INF.

"On the contrary, quite expertly at various levels, we have provided evidence that it was the United States which has been eroding the foundations and main provisions of this treaty — installing missile defenses which can serve not only as interceptors, but also as short and medium-range missiles, using strike drones which de-facto serve as nothing other than short-range and medium-range missiles," Peskov said, speaking to reporters on Monday.

Peskov added that Russia "has been and remains committed to the provisions of [the INF] treaty. And we believe that the [US] intention to withdraw from this document is cause for concern, because such steps, if implemented, will make the world a more dangerous place." Peskov echoed Lavrov in saying that the United States has not officially taken any steps to pull out of the INF in according with the treaty's provisions.

Asked about President Putin's recent remark about Russians 'going to heaven as martyrs' in the event of nuclear aggression against Russia, Peskov said that it was meant to emphasize the inadmissibility of a preemptive nuclear strike in Russian nuclear doctrine. "It was not about heaven mainly or about who goes where, but, and this is most important and has been missed by some, about the fact that at the doctrinal level, Russia does not reserve the right to stage preemptive strike," the spokesman explained. "That is, we will never attack anyone first; this is what the president said. But if we are attacked, then everyone will go somewhere — someone to hell, someone to heaven, and so on. That was the main point, the rest was just allegorical," he added.

Speaking about Russia's nuclear doctrine in Sochi last week, President Putin said that "the aggressor must know that retribution is inevitable," and that Russians, as "the victims of aggression, will go to heaven as martyrs, while [the aggressors] will simply die, because they will not even have time to repent."

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