Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Values US Leave Weapons Restrictions Treaty To Threaten China

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia Sergey Ryabkov. (Wikimedia Commons/Ballk MSC)

JAKARTA - Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov on Monday said the United States' move to withdraw from the Soviet-era arms control treaty was carried out so Washington could start making weapons to intimidate China.

The president at the time Donald Trump said in 2018 that Uncle Sam's country would withdraw from the Medium-Range Nuclear Power Treaty (INF Agreement), signed by Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev in 1987, banning the use of nuclear-based missiles and other weapons by the two countries.

Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov told International Life the ministry's official publication said the reason Washington's decision had now been "disclosed with absolute and undisputed clarity".

Washington officially withdrew from the agreement in August 2019.

"America needs to withdraw from the agreement to create such a system to intimidate the People's Republic of China," Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov said.

"And it's not a coincidence that recently we have had very intensive discussions about when and where America will start deploying their medium-range weapons in the Asia-Pacific region. Yes, in Europe too, but especially in the Asia-Pacific region," he said.

Last month, President Vladimir Putin said Russia would continue to develop its nuclear arsenal, which is the largest in the world, as a deterrent and at the same time maintain a balance of power in the world.

President Putin conveyed this in the Kremlin at a ceremony attended by graduates of the military academy, police, and intelligence services.

"We plan to develop a further nuclear triad as a guarantee of strategic prevention and to maintain a balance of power in the world," said President Putin.

Last week, President Putin said Russia was ready to start producing short and medium-range missiles in response to the United States' actions, after attending a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Astana, Kazakhstan.

"I said, in connection with the withdrawal of the United States from the agreement (Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty - INF) and their announcement of starting production, we also consider we have the right to start research, development and production in the future. We are conducting such research and development, we are ready to start production," he said, quoted by TASS.

"We have given this industry a relevant task as a principle," he continued.

President Putin added that Moscow could provide a mirror-like response if US short- and medium-range missiles were stationed in any region in the world, Putin said.

"Everything remains as we said," he said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting of the Russian Security Council on June 28, following Washington's withdrawal from the INF Agreement in 2019, Moscow had announced a moratorium on the deployment of the missile during the US refrain from spreading it to any region in the world.