Moscow cannot understand the US line on the INF Treaty, since the overseas partners are limited to only provocative claims.

Commenting on US claims against Russia regarding non-compliance with the Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Short-Range Missiles (INF Treaty), Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov called them incorrect and provocative. RIA Novosti, citing what Ryabkov said in its publication, notes that, according to him “There is no content in the claims of the United States to the Russian Federation on the INF Treaty”... Everything that Washington presents to its partners as claims to Moscow are simply fakes.

Moscow, as Ryabkov emphasizes, cannot understand the US line. There is nothing specific. Whether we are talking about breaking the treaty, or Washington wants to work with Moscow to preserve it. What the United States must do is simply to ensure that the INF Treaty is “survivable,” and for that it must fulfill its own commitments. Ryabkov also clarifies that Washington did not provide Moscow with facts that would allow it to be argued that the Russian 9M729 missile was violating the treaty.

The Russian parliament has already responded to the US desire to suspend the implementation of the INF. According to the Deputy Head of the State Duma Committee on Defense Andrei Krasov, all American statements can only be accepted as PR moves. Their goal is to demonize Russia, accusing it "of all mortal sins."

A little earlier, US Assistant Secretary of State Andrea Thompson made a statement that the States on February 2 would stop fulfilling their obligations under the contract, if by that time Russia had not provided evidence that it fulfilled the INF Treaty.