OREANDA-NEWS During speaking at the University in the capital of Kyrgyzstan, the Head of the Russian Foreign Ministry commented on Washington's decision to start leaving the INF TREATY. According to the Minister, we are talking about a new era, when the United States "headed for the scrapping of the entire arms control system."

Lavrov also mentioned the plans of the United States to create low-power nuclear weapons. According to him, all this will lower the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons and increase the risks of conflict.

The Russian Minister suggested that the result of the incident will be the development of the cold war and the arms race. However, Moscow will respond to emerging threats with "military-technical means".

As for the prospects of the Russian-American dialogue on strategic stabil ity, Lavrov expressed hope that "the United States will mature to understand its responsibility for the problems created by its policy. "Then you are welcome, the doors are open, we will talk on an equal basis, taking into account the legitimate interests of each other, and not fictitious," the Minister said.

The United States announced the suspension of participation in the INF on February 1. It entered into force on 2 February.

Russia responded to the actions of the American authorities in a mirror manner. President Vladimir Putin announced the suspension of participation in the Treaty at a meeting with Lavrov and defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. At the same time, the Head of State stressed that Russia does not intend to get involved in the costly arms race for Moscow.

The reason for the decision of the United States was the Russian cruise missile 9M729, the launch of which is carried out with the help of launchers "Iskander-M". The US authorities demanded to suspend the development of this missile, accusing Russia of violating the INF TREATY. In Moscow, these accusations are denied. Sergey Lavrov said that the American side began to violate the Treaty in 1999, when the United States began to test combat drones.