(VOVWORLD) - Russia will scrap a moratorium on the deployment of intermediate and shorter range nuclear-capable missiles because the United States has deployed such weapons in various regions around the world, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Sunday.
Lavrov said Russia is assessing the situation on the basis of an analysis of the destabilizing actions of the United States and NATO in the strategic sphere and, accordingly, the evolution of the threats that arise from them.
Russia’s moratorium on the deployment of short- and medium-range missiles is no longer practically viable and will have to be abandoned, Lavrov said, adding that the US has ignored the warnings of Russia and China and in practice has moved on to the deployment of weapons of this class in various regions of the world.
Washington withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty in 2019. Russia has since said it will not deploy such weapons provided that Washington does not.