Russia says U.S. withdrawal from INF treaty 'created vacuum'

Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that the U.S. decision to pull out of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty in August 2019 was "destructive". "The INF treaty had an indefinite life and was able to provide predictable restraint in the missile sphere for many years to come," she said.

Russia said on Thursday that the United States' withdrawal from a treaty banning intermediate-range nuclear missiles was a destructive act that had created a vacuum and stoked additional security risks. Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that the U.S. decision to pull out of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty in August 2019 was "destructive".

"The INF treaty had an indefinite life and was able to provide predictable restraint in the missile sphere for many years to come," she said. Zakharova was speaking on the 35th anniversary of the signing of the treaty by U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev in 1987.