MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Moscow does not see any reason to refuse to cooperate with the United States on non-proliferation issues, if such cooperation brings mutual benefit, the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Department for Non-Proliferation and Arms Control, Mikhail Ulyanov, told RIA Novosti on Wednesday.
"In such matters, we must first of all focus on our own interests. And if interaction with the United States in some areas related to non-proliferation works to strengthen international and especially Russian security, then it hardly has any sense to refuse to engage in such cooperation," Ulyanov said when asked if Moscow intended to stop cooperating with the US on non-proliferation in case of intensification of anti-Russian sanctions.
Russia and the United States have been in a dispute over the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF). The countries have repeatedly accused each other of violating the INF treaty.
The INF Treaty prohibits the development, deployment or testing of ground-launched ballistic or cruise missiles with ranges between 300 and 3,400 miles. The treaty was implemented by 1991 with inspections carrying on until 2001.
The United States and Russia have repeatedly accused each other of violating the INF treaty.
