MOSCOW. Oct 14 (Interfax) - The head of the State Duma foreign affairs committee, Leonid Slutsky, says Russia has every right to place missiles on its territory.
"I would also like to remind to Mr. Eberhardt [U.S. President's Special Representative for Nuclear Nonproliferation Jeffrey Eberhardt] that, on its own territory Russia can place its own missiles where and when it deems it necessary. This is our sovereign right, just as [the right] to conduct military exercises," Slutsky wrote on his Telegram channel on Thursday.
"In doing so Russia did not and is not violating any international obligations," he added.
His comments came after media reports that Eberhardt said Russia should remove its missiles from Europe which the U.S. says violate the two countries' Treaty on the Elimination of Their Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles (INF Treaty).
Slutsky reminded of Moscow's position on the issue: the U.S. pulled out of the INF treaty unilaterally, having unfairly accused Russia of violating the treaty, which in turn forced Russia to suspend its participation in it. As a result, the treaty ceased to exist. And while Moscow honors the moratorium on the placement of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles unilaterally, the U.S. has been sending the weapons to Europe and building missile defense complexes in countries near Russia's borders.