The United States' plan to take heavy drones off the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) control list will affect the multilateral agreement, but the US is not likely to completely abandon the MTCR yet, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told Sputnik on Monday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th June, 2020) The United States' plan to take heavy drones off the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) control list will affect the multilateral agreement, but the US is not likely to completely abandon the MTCR yet, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told Sputnik on Monday.
"According to the information that we have, Washington is now discussing the possibility to take the heavy strike drone category off one of the control lists of the MTCR. If this decision is implemented, this will be done to facilitate the export of such systems from the US to other countries. This will certainly be a heavy blow for the MTCR, this is a multilateral regime, and we have long been discussing this in the MTCR format," Ryabkov said.
The US is aware of Russia's negative attitude toward such plans, the diplomat added.
"However, the information that we have shows that this is not about the US' complete withdrawal from MTCR, at least yet. However, the things that are happening now ... are a reflection of the trend toward the US' liberation from any restrictions preventing the implementation of Washington's arms control plans," Ryabkov went on to say.
