U.S. perceived INF Treaty as straightjacket so it quit - Envoy Ulyanov
BRUSSELS. Aug 5 (Interfax) - The United States viewed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty as a straightjacket for ground-launched missile projects, Russian Permanent Representative to International Organizations in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov said.
"This is the real reason of U.S. decision to terminate INF Treaty - it was perceived by Washington as a straightjacket," Ulyanov said on Twitter on Monday in his comments on U.S. media reports about plans to test U.S. ground-launched intermediate-range missiles, which will be deployed in China's doorstep, in the coming weeks.
According to Ulyanov, Washington decided it would not be enough to have sea- and air-launched intermediate- and shorter-range missiles and choose to have their ground-launched modification.
The INF Treaty was signed by the Soviet Union and the United States in Washington DC on December 8, 1987, and took effect on June 1, 1988, in relation to intermediate- (from 1,000 to 5,000 kilometers) and shorter-range (from 500 to 1,000 kilometers) missiles.
The treaty ceased to exist on August 2, 2019, following the United States' withdrawal.