Russia will never put up with the methods of blackmail and pressure of opponents, does not escalate first and will act in the sphere of the Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-range Missiles (INF) in advance to ensure its security. This was stated by Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.
"Our actions in what is being done in the field of INF, as well as in the field of military construction in general, are conditioned by concern for the guaranteed provision of our security. We respond to what is acceptable to our opponents and opponents as an attempt to press, pressure, blackmail, and dictate against Russia. We will never put up with this," Ryabkov said in an interview with Rossiya-1 TV channel.
"If the price of our response to this policy is an increase in tension, then let it be 'escalation' — call it what you want — but we are not the first to escalate. That's what I'm talking about. There are options when it is necessary to be proactive, when it is necessary to anticipate some steps that a potential adversary may take, and then this is also certainly being done and will be done," he added.
Ryabkov drew attention to the fact that the West took Russia's signal to withdraw from the moratorium on the deployment of medium- and shorter-range missiles, which had a sobering effect.
"We have quite reliable sources confirming that the desired result has been achieved, a sobering effect is taking place," stated the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.
In this regard, he pointed out that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio did not address the Russian side after Moscow announced its withdrawal from the INF.
"There was no call from Rubio. And by and large we did not expect it to be. The statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the withdrawal from the moratorium contains a number of specific and even specialized references to what is happening around. And I am sure that those who are supposed to do this from the point of view of their official duties in various structures, also focusing on the military sphere and security in the West, have very clearly tracked and recorded this," the diplomat said.
EADaily reported that on August 4, the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on the lifting of the moratorium on the deployment of medium- and shorter-range ground-based missiles, announced after the termination of the INF Treaty between the USSR/Russia and the USA in 2019. The Russian Foreign Ministry noted that this step "will require compensating military-technical measures from our country in order to fend off newly emerging threats and maintain a strategic balance."