“The Russian side has serious complaints on the United States’ observance of a number of conditions to the [INF] Treaty. We believe an honest dialogue on the expert level would be useful,” Antonov said.
Washington earlier announced it was reviewing the possibility of deploying ground-based nuclear weapons in Europe.
The deployment of US ground-based nuclear missiles in Europe would mean the United States would exit the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, Russian Deputy Defense Minister said.
Media reports earlier this week suggested that Washington weighs a number of options to counter Russia's alleged role in Ukrainian conflict, including deploying land-based missile systems in Europe capable of threatening Russia’s nuclear potential.
“The Russian Defense Ministry is conducting a scrupulous analysis of information on the topic of fulfilling the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty that have come from various sources…We of course have paid particular attention to these publications in the Western press…and these measures that these American sources are talking about would mean the United States’ exit from the INF Treaty,” Antonov told journalists in Moscow.
On Sunday, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said in an interview with the BBC that the United Kingdom would consider hosting US intermediate missiles to show Russia that it would not tolerate any breach of obligation under the Minsk ceasefire agreements on Ukraine.
The development and deployment of nuclear and conventional ground-launched intermediate range ballistic and cruise missiles is banned by the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, signed by the United States and the Soviet Union in 1987.
The United States is spinning the idea of “Russian breaches” in the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) in order to justify its own military steps, Russian Anatoly Antonov said.
“There’s a feeling that the United States is spinning the idea of ‘Russian breaches’ as a pretext for its own ‘responsive’ military steps in order to solidify the American ‘leadership’ in confronting a ‘Russian military threat,’ a myth that is constantly blown out of proportion by Washington against all obvious facts,” Antonov said.
Washington earlier announced it was reviewing the possibility of deploying ground-based nuclear weapons in Europe in response to an alleged violation of the 1987 INF Treaty by Moscow.
On Sunday, UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said the United Kingdom would consider hosting US intermediate missiles.
The INF Treaty bans nuclear and conventional ground-based cruise and ballistic missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers (310-3,400 miles).
The United States has repeatedly accused Russia of violating the Cold War-era agreement. Russia, in turn, has accused Washington of deploying defense systems in Romania and Poland that are capable of violating the INF Treaty.
