Washington confirmed that the decision to withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty was final, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said in an interview with the Kommersant newspaper.
"Washington stated publicly in October that it would withdraw from the treaty. Through bilateral channels, we received a confirmation at a high political level that this decision was final and was not an invitation to dialogue," Ryabkov stressed.
"We are forced to proceed from the fact that regardless of the opinion and actions of Russia, the other participants of the INF Treaty and third countries, the United States will purposefully move towards its denunciation," the diplomat noted.
According to him, Russia would respond to U.S. deployment of intermediate- and shorter-range missiles threatening the country in case the United States quit the INF.
Ryabkov stressed that Moscow has not received a response from Washington to the proposal to discuss disagreements on the terms of compliance with the INF Treaty at the level of military.
