Russia suspends participation in the INF Treaty – the relevant presidential law was adopted by the State Duma. As the head of the international committee, Leonid Slutsky, stated, this decision was made in response to a gross violation of the Treaty by the US and coarse blackmail of Russia by the United States.
The INF Treaty was concluded for the first time in 1987 during a meeting of the leaders of the USSR and the USA, Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan, in Washington. Since then, it has been repeatedly extended and repeatedly violated by the United States. However, since 2014, the White House has been methodically accusing Russia of violating the INF Treaty.
US President Donald Trump February 1, said that the States will withdraw from the Treaty unilaterally, if the Russian Federation does not eliminate the “significant violations.” On the proposals of Russia, which was ready to provide evidence of the implementation of the Treaty, the United States did not respond.
As a result, in March, the head of the Russian state, Vladimir Putin, issued a decree on the suspension by Russia of the INF. On May 30, the head of state submitted to the State Duma a corresponding bill, without which a decision, according to the legislation on international treaties, cannot be made.
On June 18, at a plenary meeting, State Duma deputies of all factions supported the presidential bill on the suspension of the INF. As Deputy Interior Minister Sergei Ryabkov explained, this is about the suspension of the Treaty, and not about Russia’s withdrawal from it. The document provides for the possibility to resume the action of the INF Treaty in Russia by the decision of the head of state, provided the United States begins to strictly fulfill its obligations.
“We are grateful for the unconditional support of the bill – this is a guarantee of our strength and, I think, the United States will take this into account,” says Sergey Ryabkov.
Leonid Slutsky, head of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, stressed that the decision to suspend the Treaty is correct and timely, and it was made in response to violations of the United States paragraphs of the document unprecedentedly rude.
