Russian Foreign Minister pointed to the fact that once deployed in Japan and South Korea these missile would be able to reach Russia’s territory up to the Urals

MOSCOW, December 22. /TASS/. Moscow doesn’t rule out that the United States may deploy its intermediate-and shorter-range missile in the Asia Pacific region in the vicinity of the Russian borders, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Sunday.

He said he had discussed this topic with US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and at a meeting with US President Donald Trump.

"The situation is worrisome because having defiantly withdrawn from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty the United States made no secret that it had been developing the weapons banned by that treaty for a long time," he said in an interview with the Bolshaya Igra (Big Game) program on Russia’s television Channel One. "The fact that they test launched such a missile quite swiftly and recently launched an offensive cruise missile from a system meant, as they have been telling us, for missile defense only proves what we have been saying for years - that this is a double-use system, as its manufacturer, Lockheed Martin, says on its website. Here you are: you buy one system, which is both anti-missile and offensive. Now it is fact of life."

"The American say they cannot sit back doing nothing when China (they always keep on mentioning it) is building up such weapons and the United States has nothing of the kind. They also said such weapons should be deployed in the Asia Pacific region and named openly Japan and South Korea," he said, adding that he has recently discussed this topic with his Japanese counterpart, Toshimitsu Motegi. "He keeps on stressing that it will be up to Japan to operate the Aegis Ashore systems it is buying from Washington."

"But the fact I have just mentioned make us doubt that shorter-and intermediate-range missiles would not be deployed in the vicinity of our borders, in particular in Japan and South Korea," Lavrov stressed. "Whatever the reasons why the American are seeking to deploy these missile there may be (and they keep on speaking about China), it will make little difference for us who are it will be against in formal terms. First, we would not like to see these missiles be targeted against China. It is our strategic partner. In any case, it will destabilize the situation."

The Russian top diplomat pointed to the fact that once deployed in Japan and South Korea these missile would be able to reach Russia’s territory up to the Urals. "Naturally, we will spare no effort to establish certain rules in this sphere after the collapse of the treaty," he pledged.

NF Treaty

On August 2, 2019, the United States formally withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, signed by the Soviet Union and the United States on December 8, 1987. It applied to deployed and non-deployed ground-based missiles of intermediate range (1,000-5,000 kilometers) and shorter range (500-1,000 kilometers). The US motivated its actions by Russia’s alleged refusal to comply with the American ultimatum-like demand that the new 9M729 cruise missiles be eliminated as violating the INF Treaty. Moscow vehemently dismissed all accusations, saying that the technical parameters of the 9M729 missiles are within the parameters allowed by the treaty and laid counterclaims to Washington.