Official government statements or credible international news agencies

Russia to Abandon Missile Moratorium Following U.S. Deployment, Lavrov Says

Dec 29, 2024, 07:30 AM

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has announced that Russia will abandon its moratorium on the deployment of short- and medium-range missiles. This decision comes in response to the United States beginning to deploy such weapons, according to Lavrov's statements in an interview with RIA Novosti. Lavrov emphasized that the moratorium, which Russia had maintained unilaterally since the U.S. withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty in 2019, is no longer viable due to the destabilizing actions of the U.S. and NATO in the strategic sphere. He stated that the U.S. has ignored warnings from Russia and China and has proceeded to deploy these types of weapons in various regions of the world.