UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd August, 2019) The UN Security Council is set to meet on Thursday afternoon for open discussions of the recent test by the United States of a medium-range cruise missile, previously prohibited by the now abandoned Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, and its potential deployment.
"The meeting will take place tomorrow; it will be an open-format briefing under the agenda of 'Threats to International Peace and Security' and is scheduled to take place at 3:00 p.m.," Russian Permanent Mission to the United Nations Press Secretary Fedor Strzhizhovskiy told Sputnik.
On Monday, the US Defense Department said it tested a conventional ground-launched cruise missile that flew more than 500 kilometers [310 miles], a range banned under the INF Treaty. Defense Department spokesman Lt. Col. Robert Carver told Sputnik the following day that the test had used a Mark 41 launcher.
Subsequently, Russia's Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Dmitry Polyanskiy told Sputnik that the diplomatic missions of Russia and China at the United Nations had requested a UN Security Council meeting to address the matter.
Strzhizhovskiy said the meeting will focus not only on the latest US missile test, but also on the threat arising from the deployment of such missiles.
The United States' plans to develop and deploy medium-range missiles "jeopardize the strategic balance of power in the world," Strzhizhovskiy said and added that Russia hopes for a fair assessment of the US actions at the UN Security Council meeting.
Strzhizhovskiy noted the Russian mission had requested the participation of United Nations Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu, who will brief the UN Security Council members on the issue.
RUSSIA WARNS US MISSILE TEST MAY RESULT IN NEW ARMS RACE
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday that the recent US cruise missile test with the use of a Mark 41 launcher poses a risk to the global security structure and may result in a new arms race.
Lavrov said a day earlier that the United States had been preparing tests of the short-range cruise missile long before Washington had officially exited the INF Treaty. The Russian diplomat pointed out that the preparations for exiting the treaty could have begun in October 2018 or even earlier.
Lavrov also said that US National Security Advisor John Bolton had said during his visit to Moscow in October 2018 that President Donald Trump's comments about the United States' need to withdraw from the INF Treaty were not an invitation to dialogue, but were rather a final decision.
UN CHIEF URGES INTENSIFYING DISARMAMENT EFFORTS
In the wake of the United States' test of the short-range cruise missile post-INF Treaty, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday urged all member states to intensify efforts aimed at disarmament.
Following the end of the INF Treaty, Guterres called on the United States and Russia to start a dialogue on international arms control measures and avoid destabilizing actions.
