London blames Russia for U.S. withdrawal from INF treaty - British ambassador
MOSCOW. Feb 26 (Interfax) - London believes that it was Russian actions that led the United States to announce its withdrawal from the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, and regrets this fact, British Ambassador to Russia Laurie Bristow said.
"We deeply regret that in our view Russia's actions have caused the United States to suspend the treaty. What we would like to do is to get back to the situation where nobody has any missiles of this class in the European continent. We believe that if we were in that position, everybody, including Russia, would be safer," Bristow said in an interview with Interfax.
He stressed that London regularly discusses the INF issue with its U.S. and NATO colleagues.
"All 29 NATO allies take the same view on the INF Treaty, which is that first of all, we think the treaty is very important, but, secondly, Russia is in a breach of it, and you cannot have a treaty which only one side is complying with," Bristow said.
The full text of the interview will appear at www.interfax.com.