BRUSSELS. Dec 6 (Interfax) - The United States' note officially notifying Russia that it intends to withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty sounds like an ultimatum to which Moscow will react accordingly, Russian Permanent Representative to the European Union Vladimir Chizhov told Interfax in an interview on Wednesday.
"Last night, after the meeting of the North Atlantic Council at the level of foreign ministers ended in Brussels, the U.S. embassy in Moscow delivered a note to the Foreign Ministry, saying that the United States will suspend the fulfilment of its obligations under this treaty in 60 days," he said.
Chizhov said that back when he was a student of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO University), "my teachers taught me and other students the key principle of diplomacy and international law: any demand or even a proposal that contains a deadline is an ultimatum."
"It is not accidental that we interpret this note exactly in this way, namely proceeding from the assumption that we will react," he said.