International disputes should be resolved through dialogue and not by sanctions, Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Thursday, while presenting his country's new Global Security Initiative. Speaking via video-link at the international forum in the province of Hainan amid the ongoing Ukrainian conflict, Xi chose not to comment on other specific international issues, highlighting instead his general vision of a global security framework.
“We, humanity, are living in an indivisible security community. It has been proven time and again that the Cold War mentality would only wreck the global peace framework, that hegemonism and power politics would only endanger world peace and that bloc confrontation would only exacerbate security challenges in the 21st century,” Xi said. The Chinese leader underlined that international security is “indivisible” and therefore respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, non-interference in each other's internal affairs and cooperation for the sake of common peace and security should form the basis of the international security framework. He announced that Beijing’s Global Security Initiative would be based on these core principles. Among other things, he said, it is important “to reject the Cold War mentality, oppose unilateralism, and say no to group politics and bloc confrontation; and stay committed to taking the legitimate security concerns of all countries seriously.” The Chinese leader called on the international community to remain committed to “peacefully resolving differences and disputes between countries through dialogue,” and to “oppose the wanton use of unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction.” These calls are apparently in line with the emphatically neutral stance of Beijing when it comes to the situation in Ukraine. From the first days of Russia’s military attack on the neighbouring country, China called for a negotiated settlement to the conflict, underlining its support for both Ukraine's right to territorial integrity and Russia's legitimate security concerns. It rejected the Western countries' call to condemn Moscow's actions, refused to impose sanctions on Russia but at the same time made a point of not providing Moscow or Kiev with any military assistance. The Chinese Foreign Ministry's spokesman Zhao Lijian called such an approach “constructive” and stressed that it puts Beijing “on the right side of history.” The US has criticized China for its neutrality on the Ukrainian issue and has even warned Beijing of “the implications and consequences” were it to decide to provide any material support for Russia. Russia attacked the neighbouring state in late February, following Ukraine's failure to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements, first signed in 2014, and Moscow's eventual recognition of the Donbass republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. The German and French brokered protocols were designed to give the breakaway regions special status within the Ukrainian state. The Kremlin has since demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join the US-led NATO military bloc. Kiev insists the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked and has denied claims it was planning to retake the two republics by force.
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NATO, you got fat and flabby and lazy. You sat on the laurels earned by and taught to you by the deaths of sixty million in WWII. You thought and taught that it could never happen again.
During the cold war you maintained your armed forces and remembered the horrors that tyranny and authoritarianism can create. Your warriors remained alert and ready while your academics and historian taught the lessons of the past. You remembered the sacrifices of a whole generation. But you grew soft! You questioned the morality of defensive war, you allowed holier than thou students to reduce your heroic actions to the level of the thug. At school you stopped teaching your own history with pride and instead gave equity to those who would undermine your values. You let that great grubby god 'Money' steal your values and virtue, - substituting cash with the excuse 'Someone else will take it if I don't'. Generals allowed their armies to be reduced to bland green reservists whose sole purpose was to march in concert with the lowest common denominator. Cheap and cheerful made it look good. By reducing your effectiveness in the name of 'equality', you trained your youth to cry and whine when confronted with failure and disappointment. You trained them to remain childish like puppies for their entire existence. While the monsters of communism and fascism rebuilt their followings you wore your Hugo Boss and took your cash and told us we were yesterdays people. You were the new awakening. Well you are awake now the monster has returned and yes, - he still has nuclear weapons, - he still cares nothing for your values and he certainly doesn't care if you cry - or die! Where are your warriors, where are your leaders? Where are the men and women who understood evil and the lessons of history? Not in your parliaments, not in your police forces and not in your schools. All your human rights are as nothing when a T72 tank comes down your road. Tanks don't understand 'INAPPROPRIATE'. There are new sacrifices to be made. Are you prepared to meet them as you ought? "When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things." You are awake now little children and it's time to grow up! NATO, as we know it today, is a de facto bulwark against Russian (née Soviet) expansionism into Western Europe and potentially elsewhere. It must have come as a complete surprise when France, Great Britain, and the United States all received letters of intent from the Soviet Foreign Ministry about joining the alliance. Against themselves. Originally a political alliance in Western Europe when it was formed in 1949, NATO became a solid military alliance as well when the Korean War made the idea of Communist expansion by force all too real. The same year the Soviets detonated their first nuclear weapon, the West formed an alliance to neutralize that threat. But before the Soviet-dominated countries of Eastern Europe formed the Eastern Bloc in 1955, Russia made an attempt to join NATO. Guess who’s coming to dinner. Longtime Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin finally died in 1953 and Nikita Khrushchev was the new communist sheriff in town. So in 1954, when Soviets sent the letters of intent to NATO members, there was a renewed spirit of easing tensions. The Soviets reasoned that the aggressive nature of the NATO alliance would be much less dangerous to world peace if their former anti-Hitler ally were allowed to be a member.
Can’t blame them for trying. NATO told the Russians exactly that when the alliance rejected Russia’s application for membership, urging it and other Soviet satellites to allow the UN to do its job in keeping the world secure. It was not an unexpected response for the USSR. Nine days later, Russia and those satellites formed the Warsaw Pact, its Eastern Bloc counter-alliance. Europe was officially split for the next 40-plus years. “Most likely, the organizers of the North Atlantic bloc will react negatively to this step of the Soviet government and will advance many different objections. In that event the governments of the three powers will have exposed themselves, once again, as the organizers of a military bloc against other states and it would strengthen the position of social forces conducting a struggle against the formation of the European Defense Community,” Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov wrote." Mounting global tensions require additional efforts to ensure strategic stability, first and foremost, by getting comprehensive security guarantees for Moscow from the United States and NATO, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a message to the Foreign Ministry’s employees and veterans on Diplomats’ Day, marked on February 10.
"The situation in the world is becoming more turbulent and tense. This certainly requires additional and persistent efforts to ensure strategic stability and counter arising threats and challenges. This especially includes our bid to receive comprehensive, legally binding national security guarantees from the US and its NATO allies," says the statement published on the Kremlin website. In addition, the Russian leader stressed that "consistent, systemic work to strengthen the supremacy of international law and the UN’s central coordinating role, to create a fair and stable multipolar world order remains fully topical," the message reads. The head of state wished employees of the Foreign Ministry success in their work and good health to veteran diplomats. He was confident that the ministry’s staff "will continue working efficiently, doing all it can to consolidate Russia’s position in the world arena." According to Putin, the Russian Foreign Ministry has a proud history of serving the country and protecting its interests globally. "Relying on the traditions of the past, Russia’s diplomats befittingly perform their professional duties today," the message said. "Our diplomacy helps uphold the lawful rights of Russian citizens and compatriots abroad and facilitates the settlement of regional conflicts and crises and, most importantly, plays a major role in creating favourable external conditions for the steady progress of our country," the president emphasized. Diplomats’ Day was established in Russia by a presidential decree in 2002 to commemorate the founding of the Russian diplomatic service on February 10, 1549. The U.S. government has held talks with several international energy companies on contingency plans for supplying natural gas to Europe if a conflict between Russia and Ukraine disrupts Russian supplies. Two U.S. officials and two industry sources told Reuters on Friday. The United States is concerned Russia is preparing for the possibility of a new military assault on the country it invaded in 2014. Russia denies its plans to attack Ukraine. The European Union depends on Russia for around a third of its gas supplies, and U.S. sanctions over any conflict could disrupt that supply. Any interruptions to Russia's gas supply to Europe would exacerbate an energy crisis caused by a shortage of fuel. Record power prices have driven up consumer energy bills as well as business costs and sparked protests in some countries.
State Department officials approached the companies to ask where additional supplies might come from if they were needed, two industry sources familiar with the discussions told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter. The companies told the U.S. government officials that global gas supplies are tight and that there is little gas available to substitute large volumes from Russia, the industry sources said. The State Department's discussions with energy companies were led by a senior advisor for energy security Amos Hochstein, a senior U.S. State Department official said, also speaking on condition of anonymity. The State Department did not ask the companies to increase output, the official added. "We've discussed a range of contingencies and we've talked about all that we're doing with our nation-state partners and allies," the source said. "We've done this with the European Commission, but we've also done it with energy companies. It's accurate to say that we've spoken to them about our concerns and spoken to them about a range of contingencies, but there wasn't any sort of ask when it comes to production." As well as asking companies what capacity they had to raise supplies, U.S. officials also asked whether companies had the capacity to increase exports and postpone field maintenance if necessary, the sources said. It was unclear which companies U.S. officials contacted. Royal Dutch Shell, ConocoPhillips and Exxon declined to comment when asked if they had been contacted. Chevron Corp, Total, Equinor and Qatar Energy did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A second industry source said his company was asked whether it had the ability to postpone maintenance at gas fields if necessary. A spokesperson for the U.S. National Security Council would not comment on U.S. discussions with energy companies, but confirmed contingency planning was underway. "Assessing potential spill overs and exploring ways to reduce those spill overs is good governance and standard practice," the spokesperson said. "Any details in this regard that make their way to the public only demonstrate the extensive detail and seriousness with which we are discussing and are prepared to impose significant measures with our allies and partners." Moscow has alarmed the West by massing troops near Ukraine in the past two months, following its seizure of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula in 2014 and its backing of separatists fighting Kyiv troops in eastern Ukraine. Biden has previously told Russian President Vladimir Putin that a new Russian move on Ukraine would draw sanctions and an increased U.S. presence in Europe. Russia denies planning to attack Ukraine and says it has the right to move its troops on its own soil as it likes. "The United States promised to have Europe's back if there is an energy shortage due to conflict or sanctions," the second industry source said. "Amos is going to big LNG producing companies and countries like Qatar to see if they can help the United States," he added, referring to Hochstein. If pipeline supplies from Russia to Europe are reduced, European buyers would need to seek cargoes of super chilled gas to compensate. U.S. exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) are set to soar this year to make it the world's top LNG supplier. Europe competes for LNG supplies from suppliers such as the United States and Qatar with top consumers China and Japan, which also face an energy crunch. For any future US national China strategy to be effective, it must above all be operationalized rather than merely declared. As stated repeatedly throughout this paper, it is less important what the
United States says than what it does. The United States must, as a first step, establish the machinery of state to develop, agree on, and implement such a strategy across all US agencies with the full support of senior congressional leadership. That strategy must be authoritative, taking the form of a presidential directive. It must be long term, implemented over the next thirty years. It must therefore also be bipartisan, capable of surviving multiple elections and administrations. The United States also must work with the G7, NATO, and Asian treaty partners on this common China strategy with regular, built-in review mechanisms to measure success in achieving the strategy’s overall objectives. Some question the United States’ ability to effectively mobilize the nation to meet the China challenge as Kennan and the Truman administration did with the Soviet challenge two generations ago. Some also question whether there is still sufficient national wisdom to devise the type of detailed operational strategy that could succeed: finding the necessary balance between circumscribing Chinese behaviours where necessary, cooperating with China where appropriate, and always deterring China from contemplating any form of military action or political aggression. Still others doubt there is sufficient national unity and resolve to cross the lines of partisan division as needed not only to preserve the very idea of the republic, but also to remain a beacon of light to the world. The purpose of this paper is to argue not only that it is possible, but that it is necessary. Otherwise, current generations would prove to be unworthy successors of the greatest generation of Americans, who defeated tyranny to preserve not just the nation, but the world. How should the success of this new US China strategy be measured? That, by mid-century, the United States and its major allies continue to dominate the regional and global balance of power across all the major indices of power; that China has been deterred from taking Taiwan militarily, and from initiating any other form of military action to achieve its regional objectives; that the rules-based liberal international order has been consolidated, strengthened, and expanded, rolling back against the growing illiberalism of the present time; that Xi has been replaced by a more moderate party leadership; and that the Chinese people themselves have come to question and challenge the Communist Party’s century-long proposition that China’s ancient civilization is forever destined to an authoritarian future. ANKARA, July 12 -- Turkey’s Defense Ministry has posted photos of the first batch of the Russian-made S-400 missile system’s equipment delivered to the country. Official photos of the Turkish Defense Ministry show several prime movers and a transporter-loader of the S-400 surface-to-air missile system. Turkey’s Defense Ministry announced on Friday that the first batch of components has been delivered to the Murted Air Base near Ankara under the S-400 deal. Activities to deliver Russia’s S-400 air defense systems to Turkey scheduled for Friday are over, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said. "According to the plan, the third [Russian] plane has landed, the activities scheduled for today are over. The process will continue in the coming days," Anadolu Agency quotes him as saying. The minister noted that "in parallel with S-400 supplies, work to train personnel to install and operate these systems will continue in Turkey and Russia." He added that Ankara "continued to look into the feasibility of purchasing US Patriot missile systems." According to the Turkish Undersecretariat for Defense Industries, the remaining components will be delivered in the near future. S-400 deal The first reports about the talks between Russia and Turkey on the deliveries of S-400 air defense missile systems came in November 2016. In September 2017, Russia confirmed that that the relevant contract had been signed. Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar earlier said that the deployment of S-400 surface-to-air missile systems could begin in October 2019. In December 2017, CEO of Russia’s state hi-tech corporation Rostec Sergei Chemezov noted that the S-400 deal was worth $2.5 bln. The United States has been making attempts to prevent Turkey from purchasing Russia's S-400 missile systems. Washington earlier warned that it might deny Turkey the purchase of F-35 fighter-bombers, if Ankara pressed ahead with the S-400 deal. The S-400 ‘Triumf’ is the most advanced long-range air defense missile system that went into service in Russia in 2007. It is designed to destroy aircraft, cruise and ballistic missiles, including medium-range missiles, and can also be used against ground installations. The S-400 can engage targets at a distance of 400 km and at an altitude of up to 30 km. Author: Lora Smith ANKARA, June 17 -- The supplies of Russia’s S-400 missile defense systems to Ankara will begin in the first half of July, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters after returning from the summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. "We discussed with Russia the S-400 issue, this is a closed chapter. There haven’t been any problems. I think the supplies will begin in the first half of July," Erdogan said, according to the NTV TV channel. Ankara is not planning to give up its S-400 contract, Erdogan stressed. "We have put our signature, we will fulfill what we have started. As part of the loan, Russia gave us various benefits and granted a loan with such interest rates which do not exist on the international market," he explained. Turkey’s National Defense Ministry is preparing a reply to a letter sent by Acting US Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan on Washington’s decision to suspend Turkey’s participation in a program on training Turkish pilots in the US on the F-35 bombers in the wake of the S-400 deal. "Very soon, maybe even this week the letter will be sent to [the US side]," Erdogan said. S-400 deal The first reports that Russia and Turkey were in talks on the S-400 supplies emerged in November 2016. Moscow confirmed that the contract had been signed in September 2017. Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said back then that the deployment of S-400 systems would begin in October 2019. According to Sergei Chemezov, the director general of Russia’s Rostec state corporation, the contract’s price tag is $2.5 bln. Turkey is the first NATO member state to buy these missile systems from Russia. The US has been vigorously trying to stonewall the S-400 deal. Earlier Washington warned Ankara that should the deal with Russia be implemented, the US would not supply its F-35 fighter-bombers to Turkey. The S-400 Triumf is the most advanced long-range air defense missile system that went into service in Russia in 2007. It is designed to destroy aircraft, cruise and ballistic missiles, including medium-range missiles, and can also be used against ground installations. The S-400 can engage targets at a distance of 400 km and at an altitude of up to 30 km. ANKARA, June 8 -- The Pentagon announced in a letter that it would halt F-35 fighter jet training for Turkish pilots over Ankara's purchase of the Russian S-400 air defense system, Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Saturday. In a letter to his Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, U.S. acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said that all Turkish pilots in the program must leave the country by July 31 and the training for new pilots will be suspended. Turkish Defense Ministry also confirmed the letter in a statement on Saturday, saying that the Pentagon expected to address security concerns over the S-400 deal. Shanahan expressed his expectation to find a solution to the existing problems between the two countries in the framework of the strategic partnership and to maintain comprehensive security cooperation, the ministry said. The U.S. repeatedly warned that it will cut off Ankara's purchase of F-35 fighter jets if the Turkish government goes ahead with plans to buy Russian S-400 air defense system, triggering a heated dispute between the two NATO allies. Washington has already suspended deliveries of parts and services related to Turkey's receipt of the multi-million-dollar jets. However, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday reaffirmed his resolve to buy S-400 system despite threatened sanctions from the United States. MOSCOW, May 13 -- US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo has cancelled his visit to Moscow scheduled for Monday but plans to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Sochi on Tuesday as planned. Reuters reported citing a State Department official who spoke on condition of anonymity. On Monday, instead of Moscow, Pompeo will arrive in Brussels, where he will discuss the situation concerning Iran with EU officials. According to Reuters, he has departed from Washington and is heading to Europe. Earlier reports said that Pompeo would come to Moscow on Monday. The US secretary of state is expected to arrive in Sochi on Tuesday afternoon and hold talks with Lavrov. Kremlin did not rule out that Russian President Vladimir Putin would receive Pompeo in Sochi. MOSCOW, March 21 -- Two Russian jets Sukhoi-27 have forced a US B-52 bomber to move away from the Russian border, the Defense Ministry told the media on Thursday. The B-52 was flying over international waters of the Baltic Sea. Russia’s air space control means identified it far away from the border and put it under observation. Two Sukhoi-27 jets of the air defense force were ordered to identify and escort the aircraft. After the strategic bomber B-52H changed course to move away from the Russian state border the jets returned to base, the Defense Ministry’s statement says. The Defense Ministry has uploaded a video of the incident to its Facebook page. WASHINGTON, March 20 -- U.S. Air Force B-52 Stratofortress bombers are flying “simultaneous training flights” over Europe and the Pacific Ocean this month. The sorties are a coordinated effort by European Command, Indo-Pacific Command and Strategic Command, U.S. officials said in a press release issued to “promote transparency and communicate our intentions.” “This Bomber Task Force rotation is the largest deployment of a single bomber platform to Europe since we had 17 bombers on the ramp at RAF Fairford in 2003 for Operation Iraqi Freedom,” Maj. Tristan Hinderliter, a U.S. Air Forces Europe spokesman, said in an email. “I make the distinction of ‘a single bomber platform’ because in summer 2017 we briefly had 2x B-1s, 2x B-2s and 2x B-52s at Fairford.” On Monday, four B-52s flew theater familiarization flights from RAF Fairford, England, which serves as USAFE’s forward operating location for bombers. A total of six bombers and 400 airmen are at RAF Fairford for this rotation. The B-52s flew over the Norwegian Sea, the Baltic Sea, Estonia, the Mediterranean Sea and Greece. “The six B-52s and more than 400 airmen deployed to RAF Fairford allow us to test and evaluate the ability to rapidly provide a larger force to a combatant commander,” Maj. Andrew Caulk, 2nd Bomb Wing public affairs chief, told Air Force Times. “The data we gather from this deployment will help to identify potential shortfalls and improve processes for future operations.” The bombers also flew to Greece and were refueled by a KC-135 Stratotanker en route. In Estonia, a B-52 conducted training with NATO joint terminal attack controllers on the ground. The bombers were deployed to EUCOM’s area of responsibility from the 2nd Bomb Wing, Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The pilots, crews and maintenance personnel arrived in theater March 14-15. Russian state news agency Tass reported that a U.S. B-52 bomber flew over the Baltic Sea Friday with its transponder on, but remained more than 95 miles from Russian territorial waters. “The plane did not approach Russia’s border closer than 150 kilometers and turned around immediately after Russian air defense systems on combat duty tracked it,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement. The last time a B-52 was spotted over the Baltic Sea by Russian forces was in 2017, Tass reported. U.S. Air Forces Pacific also launched B-52 bombers from Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, Monday, to conduct theater familiarization in the Indo-Pacific region. The bombers flew north from Andersen AFB to an area east of the Kamchatka Peninsula, in Russia’s far east, before returning to base. The B-52s at Andersen AFB are deployed from the 5th Bomb Wing out of Minot AFB, North Dakota, in support of the continuous bomber presence mission. B-52 bombers also flew a mission over contested islands in the South China Sea on March 4, and another flight occurred Wednesday, March 13. Since 2004, the U.S. has rotated B-1, B-52 and B-2 long-range bombers to Guam for training flights in Asia. The March 6 flight came just three days after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited the Philippines and said the U.S. is committed to ensuring the South China Sea remains open to all kinds of navigation and that “China does not pose a threat” of closing disputed sea lanes. Pompeo said that the U.S. military will come to the Philippines’ aid if its aircraft or ships are attacked in the South China Sea, the first such public assurance in recent memory, BRUSSELS, February 2 -- NATO strives towards a constructive relationship with Russia despite the US’ exit from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, a statement by the NATO member countries informed. "We continue to aspire to a constructive relationship with Russia, when Russia’s actions make that possible," the document states. The alliance places the responsibility for the US exiting the INF treaty on Russia. The exit procedure will take six months. US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said on Friday that the US would suspend its obligations under the INF Treaty on February 2. US President Donald Trump said earlier in a statement that the United States will get down to working on several options regarding a military response to Russia’s violations of its obligations under the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty in order to neutralize Moscow’s advantages. A US official stated on Friday that the US would notify Russia, along with several post-Soviet states, officially via a diplomatic note of their decision to apply Article 15 of the INF Treaty and to suspend their obligations under the treaty. The INF Treaty, signed by the Soviet Union and the United States on December 8, 1987, took effect on June 1, 1988. It applies to deployed and non-deployed ground-based missiles of intermediate range (1,000-5,000 kilometers) and shorter range (500-1,000 kilometers). Washington on many occasions accused Russia of violating the Treaty but Moscow strongly dismissed all accusations and expressed grievances concerning Washington’s non-compliance. Pompeo said on December 4, 2018, that Washington would suspend its obligations under the Treaty unless Moscow returned to compliance within 60 days. On December 5, Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters that Washington had not provided evidence proving Moscow’s violations of the document. He also said that Russia called for maintaining the Treaty but if the United States pulled out of it, Moscow would have to give an appropriate response. FORT WORTH, January 31 -- The Royal Netherlands Air Force rolled out its first operational F-35A during a ceremony at Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth, Texas, facility that at times resembled a rave rather than a corporate ceremony. The RNAF expects to acquire 37 F-35As, and it already received two operational test aircraft in 2013 that are now flying at Edwards AFB, Calif. The jet that rolled out Wednesday will ferry to Luke AFB, Ariz., for F-35A pilot training. It will then move to Leeuwarden AB, Netherlands, which will be a “huge driver for change for our air force and will have tremendous impact on the relevance of our Air Force as part of the coalition,” RNLAF Commander Lt. Gen. Dennis Luyt said at the ceremony. So far, Lockheed has delivered more than 360 F-35s, which are flown by 10 nations and at 16 bases worldwide, according to the company. Five services have declared initial operating capability, while two nations—the US and Israel—have used the jet in combat. The Lockheed facility hosted two Dutch DJs, along with massive screens and laser lights for a crowd of US and Dutch VIPs in military service dress and business attire, some with Dutch orange cowboy hats. KUBINKA, January 23 -- Russia is not violating any points of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. Head of the Missile Troops and Artillery of Russia’s Ground Forces Lieutenant-General Mikhail Matveyevsky told this at a briefing on the 9M729 missile for military attaches. "Russia has observed and continues strictly observing the points of the Treaty and does not allow any violations," Matveyevsky said. The military official noted that the ongoing US campaign on accusing Russia of violating the INF Treaty is groundless. The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty was signed between the former Soviet Union and the United States on December 8, 1987 and entered into force on June 1, 1988. The INF Treaty covered deployed and non-deployed ground-based short-range missiles (from 500 to 1,000 kilometers) and intermediate-range missiles (from 1,000 to 5,500 kilometers). On January 15, Russia and the US held inter-agency consultations on the INF Treaty in Geneva. Washington again accused Moscow of breaching the arms control agreement. The US threatens to leave the treaty on February 2 unless Russia destroys its 9M729 missile, which allegedly violates the agreement. Russia told colleagues that during the Zapad-2017 drills on September 18, 2017 this missile was test-launched at the Kapustin Yar proving ground at its maximum range and it covered less than 480 km. |
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