Vladimir Putin has sent a letter to NATO, urging its members to join Russia’s moratorium on deployment of short- and mid-range missiles in Europe. The US-led bloc has dismissed the offer, saying Moscow already fields such weapons.

It’s been revealed that, last week, Russia’s president relayed a secret message to a number of foreign capitals, including all NATO member states and major Asian players, aimed at maintaining the status quo after the US withdrawal in February from the landmark Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF).

The message said that Russia was ready to discuss “additional verification measures” with NATO to make sure the moratorium is upheld by all sides.

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NATO dismissively responded that Putin’s offer “ignores reality on the ground.” The block kept insisting that the 9М729 (SSC-8) cruise missiles, which were deployed in the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, bordering Poland and Lithuania, violated the terms of the INF. Moscow has to “verifiably destroy” these missiles for any discussions on a moratorium to even begin, it stated.

Russia repeatedly said that the range of the 9М729 was less than 500 km and pointed out that its Western partners never explained how they came to the conclusion that this missile was in violation.

Putin’s message didn’t require a mandatory answer, the Kremlin said, acknowledging that the idea of a moratorium “wasn’t met with understanding.”

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The INF treaty, which banned ground-based missiles with a range of between 500km and 5,500km in Europe, was signed by Moscow and Washington in 1987, for decades remaining the cornerstone of the continent’s security. After Trump’s unilateral pull-out, Russia had no choice but to also abandon the INF treaty. However, Putin soon announced a moratorium on fielding weapons the treaty had banned, until the US deploys its own. The INF officially expired in early August.

“Empty words or unacceptable proposals” are the only responses Moscow can count on from NATO, Mikhail Khodarenok, retired air defense forces colonel and RT’s military expert, said.

NATO and the US would “only listen to someone with equal power,” and Russia doesn’t have that yet, he believes.

But Moscow will not cave in and jeopardize its national security for an ethereal chance that its proposals may be taken into consideration.

“The deployment of tactical missile systems with improved performance characteristics will continue in Russia... but it won’t go beyond reasonable sufficiency,” as Moscow isn’t interested in joining an arms race, Khodarenok said.

There’s no use talking to NATO about the moratorium as “it’s the US that makes all decisions in the bloc,” Viktor Murakhovsky, military analyst and editor-in-chief of Arsenal of the Fatherland magazine, told RT.

NATO member states are deprived of full sovereignty, especially when it comes to the military sector. That’s why they’re all moving towards the hellish scenario of the possible deployment of short- and midrange missiles in Europe.

When it turned down Putin’s offer, “NATO just repeated word-by-word the claims the US used to justify their withdrawal from the INF,” he pointed out.

As for the 9М729 missiles allegedly violating the treaty, Murakhovsky reminded that Russia put the projectile on display earlier this year and invited Western military attachés to examine it themselves. “But almost no one came… Who needs verification if everything is already decided?”

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