SOCHI. Oct 4 (Interfax) - It was Asia, not violations on the part of Russia, that prompted the U.S. to withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
"We have heard from U.S. colleagues that the first step in this direction will be made in Asia. This concerns us, because we need to understand where in Asia, whether it will reach Russian territory or not. By the way, it immediately becomes clear what the primary reason to withdraw was: it was not Russia or our mythical violations of the [INF] Treaty. If they are going to place [installations] in Asia, then Asia was the primary reason to withdraw from the treaty," Putin said at a plenary session of the Valdai Club on Thursday.
Placing of any intermediate- or shorter-range missiles in Asia is "very bad" since "there are bound to be commensurate symmetric responses," he said.
"Will this improve the situation in Asia? It will only worsen it, as it will create new threats. But I am hoping that as long as no final decision is made, there are still certain possibilities of settling this situation," Putin said.
The United States was not originally sincere in this regard, claiming that Aegis systems, the ones that will be placed in Europe, cannot launch intermediate- and shorter-range missiles. "And then - Boom! - they suddenly announced themselves that Aegis launchers had been used to launch intermediate-range missiles. They could at least have taken a longer pause. It is clear that they were cheating or trying to cheat us," he said.