Russia's and China's opinions on the United States' withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty coincide, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on Wednesday
BEIJING (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th November, 2019) Russia's and China's opinions on the United States' withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty coincide, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on Wednesday.The nuclear pact was terminated on August 2 at the United States' initiative after the country formally suspended its INF obligations six months earlier. Russia and the US had repeatedly accused each other of violating the deal, which banned any ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges of 500 to 5,500 kilometers (310 to 3,417 miles).
"[Russia and China] have analyzed what is happening and exchanged assessments and conclusions in this regard [US withdrawal from the INF Treaty]. There is a complete coincidence in our approaches," Ryabkov said at a press conference following Russian-Chinese consultations on strategic stability.
He added that the situation following the US' exit from the pact had been analyzed in detail. Ryabkov also emphasized that Washington was creating systems previously prohibited by the treaty and was deploying them to regions that have the essential value for the security of the two countries.
At the same press conference, Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu said that Beijing was opposed to Washington withdrawing from the treaty.
