MOSCOW. Sept 27 (Interfax) - Russia is calling on the United States to abide by the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty) and stop the mutual accusations of violations, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said.
"Our main demand is that the U.S. again start abiding by the treaty, which it is violating by deploying Aegis Ashore missile-defense systems in Romania and soon in Poland," Ryabkov told journalists on Wednesday.
"We don't want to fruitlessly continue trading accusations and jabs, but we want real practical progress along the diplomatic track," he said.
The U.S. has still not presented any facts to uphold its allegations that Russia has violated the treaty, Ryabkov said.
"I stress that Russia is committed to the INF Treaty. None of Russia's actions has violated the treaty, and we are not going to withdraw from it," he said.
The exchange of accusations "has made the treaty seem increasingly less viable," Ryabkov said.
"The only explanation of why they are continuing to multiply their accusations, including publicly, is perhaps an intention to preserve the tension and certain conflict-producing potential in our bilateral relations, which are already overburdened with problems and can hardly be normalized," he said.