(Reuters) -Russia kept up development of intermediate- and shorter-range missile systems during a moratorium on their deployment and now possesses a substantial arsenal of such weapons, Russian media reported late on Sunday citing Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.
“When the moratorium was announced, we made it clear that it applied only to deployment, and did not mention any halt to (research and development) activities,” RIA news agency quoted Ryabkov as telling state-run Rossiya-1 state broadcaster in an interview.
“So this time was used to develop the appropriate systems and to build a fairly substantial arsenal in this area. As I understand it, we now possess it,” RIA cited Ryabkov as saying.
Earlier this month, Russia said it was lifting what it called a unilateral moratorium on deploying intermediate-range missiles, saying this was a forced response to moves by the U.S. and its allies.
The ground-based shorter-range and intermediate-range treaty, signed by the Soviet Union and the United States in 1987 was seen at the time as a sign of easing tensions between the rival superpowers. But over time, it unravelled as relations deteriorated.
The United States withdrew from the treaty in 2019 during Donald Trump’s first presidency, citing alleged violations that Russia denied.
(Reporting by Reuters in Moscow and Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Writing by Lidia Kelly; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
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