We did everything we could. Diplomats are still struggling. We informed the NATO Council. National Security Advisor (USA John Bolton - Ed.) Conveyed concerns directly to Moscow, Secretary of State (USA Mike - Ed.) Pompeo involved in discussions with his counterpart Foreign Minister. The meeting of NATO foreign ministers will take place, I think, on December 4, and this will surely become a central theme, "said Mattis, speaking at the Peace Institute in Washington.
The head of the Pentagon assures that the United States is “trying to do everything they can to find a solution” to the problem around the INF.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump said that the United States does not intend to comply with the Treaty on Medium and Shorter-Range Missiles, while Moscow is violating it and will withdraw from the Treaty. He also believes that China should be included in the agreement on the liquidation of the INF. Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow wants to get a more detailed explanation from the United States, and added that breaking the provisions of the INF Treaty would force Russia to take measures to ensure its security. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that any action in this area will meet with opposition.
In recent years, Moscow and Washington have regularly accused each other of violating the INF Treaty. In the US Congress, there were even calls to develop a bill that would directly accuse Russia of violating this document and prepare the ground for the United States to withdraw from it in the same way that Washington withdrew from the ABM Treaty.
Russia has repeatedly stated that it is strictly complying with its obligations under the INF Treaty. At the same time, Lavrov noted that Moscow has very serious questions to the United States about the implementation of the treaty by the Americans themselves. In particular, in Moscow they indicate that the United States is stationed on land — at a military base in Romania, and also in Poland — installations capable of launching Tomahawk-type cruise missiles, which is prohibited by the agreement. The Russian side also draws attention to the fact that the US is developing attack drone vehicles, funding research on the creation of a ground-based cruise missile.
The Treaty on the Elimination of Medium and Short Range Missiles is an agreement between the USSR and the USA, signed in 1987: the parties pledged to destroy all complexes of ballistic and cruise missiles of ground-based medium (1000-5500 kilometers) and short (from 500 to 1000 kilometers) range, and also not to produce, not to test and not to deploy them in the future.
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