MOSCOW. Dec 17 (Interfax) - Russia is strongly against a broader range of parties to the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
"We are categorically against this initiative. We want the Treaty to be preserved, considering that the international community has repeatedly acknowledged it as a cornerstone of international security and strategic stability," Lavrov told Komsomolskaya Pravda.
The United States deems the INF Treaty to be obsolete "and alleges our violations. It is also hinting at the wish to apply the limitations assumed by the Soviet Union and the United States in the preceding period to China and some other countries, among them the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and Iran," Lavrov said.
"Later today, we will try again to adopt a resolution of the UN General Assembly, which would support the preservation of this treaty," he said.
"Besides, we have informed the United States about our concern with the way they are fulfilling the treaty; these concerns are based on facts and military-technical events, including the deployment of a U.S. base in Romania and the planned opening of a base in Poland," Lavrov said.