MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th February, 2019) The military attache at the US Embassy in Moscow has been invited to the Russian Defense Ministry to pass him a note with proposals to return to the implementation of the the 1987 Russian-US Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty trough the destruction of certain types of weapons, ministry's spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Thursday.
"The Russian Defense Ministry proposes to the American side to take the necessary measures to return to strict compliance with the INF Treaty within the period prior to the termination of the validity period of the treaty," Konashenkov said in a statement.
"The military attache at the US embassy in Moscow has been invited to the Russian Defense Ministry to receive this note," he added.
According to Konashenkov, Russian proposals urge the United States to destroy Mk-41 launchers that are capable of firing Tomahawk cruise missiles; target-missiles, whose characteristics are similar to those of short- and intermediate-range ground-based ballistic missiles; and strike aerial drones that fall into category of "ground-based cruise missiles" under the INF Treaty.
Last week, the United States announced that the country suspended its obligations under the INF Treaty starting from February 2 and would start the withdrawal process, which would be completed in six months unless Moscow remedied country's alleged violations of the bilateral arms control deal. On February 2, President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia also suspended its obligations under the treaty in response to the US move.
