Russia Threatens to Target U.S. Allies If Trump Exits Treaty
(Bloomberg) -- Russia will target countries hosting U.S. missiles if Washington goes ahead with plans to pull out of a landmark Cold War arms treaty, General Staff chief Valery Gerasimov said Wednesday.
“If the INF treaty is destroyed, we won’t leave it without a response,” he said in a presentation to foreign military attaches in Moscow, according to an official transcript. “You as military professionals must understand that the target for Russian retaliation won’t be U.S. territory but the countries where the intermediate-range missiles are deployed.”
His comments came hours after the U.S. said it would pull out of the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in 60 days if Russia doesn’t stop alleged violations. Moscow says it’s complying with the deal. Gerasimov accused the U.S. of seeking to shift the blame for its demise to Russia.
While the INF treaty restricts the U.S. and Russia, many other countries are producing these missiles and “apparently our American partners consider the situation has changed so much that the U.S. has to have such weapons,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said, according to the Interfax news service. “What’s our response? It’s simple - in that case, we’ll also do it.”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/russia-threatens-to-target-us-allies-if-trump-exits-treaty/ar-BBQvPk8?li=BBnb7Kz
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