Let's move back to politics. Today, the State Duma adopted the presidential bill on suspending the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. The reason is obvious: Washington previously decided to withdraw from it unilaterally. The bill only has three articles. The first is to suspend the INF treaty, the second enables the president to resume it if necessary, and the third says that the law comes into effect on the day when it's made public.
Our observer Alexei Petrov is reporting on how the decision was taken in the lower chamber.
The Duma made it clear that the bill would enjoy support. Russia had long been detecting violations by the USA. But the White House kept turning a blind eye to that.
Sergey Ryabkov, Deputy Russian Foreign Minister: "Since 2000, the United States has been increasingly using heavy attack drones which fully comply with the definition of "cruisemissiles" as set forth in Article 2 of the treaty".
Moreover, cross-functional ABM launchers in Romania and Poland can easily transform into Tomahawk launchers. And this is yet another violation. But while Russia was calling the US to account, Trump dashed the treaty himself. And the reason seems to be clear.
Vladimir Shamanov, United Russia party: "A strong Russia has always caused envy, irritation, and respect at the same time. Nowadays, we've created weapons to be unmatched in the coming 10-15 years".
When Trump announced his decision, Vladimir Putin informed him about the consequences. Russia will put a premium on its own breakthrough technologies.
Vladimir Putin: "We'll give a tit-for-tat response. Our American partners have announced that they're suspending their participation in the treaty. And so are we. They've announced that they're developing R&D projects and engineering efforts. We're going to do the same. I agree with the Defense Ministry's proposal to create a ground-based version of the Kalibr launchers and, as a new development, to create an intermediate-range hypersonic ground-based missile. At the same time, I would like to stress that we won't sink into an expensive arms race".
Signed by Gorbachev and Reagan in December of 1987, the treaty provided for the destruction of ground-based ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges of 310–3,420 miles, as well as banning production and testing in the USSR and the USA. The probability of the apocalypse decreased, Europe relaxed after Pentagon had to consider nuclear parity.
Gennady Zyuganov, head of the CPRF party: "The parity made the US sit down at the negotiating table and sign important agreements. Americans had long respected them until we lost momentum. Remember: this world only respects might, wit, and success, especially Americans".
When the USA announced its objections against the range of the new Iskander missile, the Russian Defense Ministry invited American experts to clear up their doubts. However, they didn't come. Moreover, Russia had already shown such transparency before.
Vladimir Zhirinovsky, head of the LDPR party: "We let them into all our facilities, but they didn't come! These were the world's best missiles, which are unparalleled even now! We didn't take a Zaporozhets out of production, but the most powerful defense shield! We just cut it into pieces and destroyed it. But Americans only put the warheads in the warehouse".
The head of state can resume the treaty if necessary, but judging by the spirit of American diplomacy, we shouldn't rely too much on that.
Oleg Nilov, deputy head of the A Just Russia party: "Mr. Trump has declared multiple wars on China, Qatar, European countries. Sanctions have been either promised or already imposed in case they back Nord Stream 2, for instance. The gendarme is on the loose".
As a result of the discussion, 417 MPs voted for the bill. Now, it will proceed to the Federation Council. The fact that different parties found common ground on the issue is a signal to the US whose actions undermined the whole arms control system. Russia's response to the US vagaries is predictable and expected, keeping options open for a dialogue.
Alexei Petrov, Ekaterina Galkina, Anton Fedotov, and Anna Kolk for Vesti.
