Germany should not try to drive a wedge between Russia and China with statements about the alleged threat by China's missiles to Russia, Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Wu Qian said on Thursday
BEIJING (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th March, 2019) Germany should not try to drive a wedge between Russia and China with statements about the alleged threat by China's missiles to Russia, Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Wu Qian said on Thursday.
Earlier, German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen said in an interview with the German magazine Focus that Chinese missiles threatened Russia, so Beijing must be included in the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. The minister stressed that Russia was in the zone covered by Chinese medium-range missiles, so Moscow should be interested in attracting Beijing to participate in the agreement.
"Germany should not be unduly worried, and should not strive to drive a wedge between us," Wu said at a briefing.
He stressed that Russia and China were tied by a comprehensive strategic partnership, which is currently at the highest level in history,
The spokesman recalled that the INF Treaty was a bilateral agreement between Russia and the United States.
"China opposes unilateral withdrawal of the US side from it, as well as against transforming it into a multilateral agreement," Wu added.
In October, US President Donald Trump announced his country's intention to withdraw from the INF Treaty over Russia's alleged violations of the agreement. Moscow has refuted the accusations, adding that Washington itself had violated the deal.
On February 2, the United States formally suspended its obligations under the INF Treaty and triggered the six-month withdrawal process. Washington has said it would terminate this procedure if Russia agreed to be compliant with the pact. Moscow has also suspended its participation in the treaty, with Putin having instructed the country's authorities not to initiate any new talks with Washington on the matter. Putin has, however, stressed that all of Russia's earlier proposals remained on the table.
The INF Treaty was signed in 1987 by then-leader of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev and then-US President Ronald Reagan. The leaders agreed to destroy all cruise or ground-launched ballistic missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers (310 and 3,400 miles).
