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Putin Responds to Trump Regime's INF Treaty Breach

Written by Subject: Russia

Putin Responds to Trump Regime's INF Treaty Breach

by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org - Home - Stephen Lendman)

On August 2, the Trump regime formally abandoned the landmark 1987 INF Treaty — a key pillar of stepping back from the brink of possible nuclear armageddon.

On August 18, the Pentagon test-fired a nuclear-capable INF Treaty banned missile — showing the US was developing these weapons long before the Trump regime's announced pullout in February.

Russia and China warned of a new arms race. Both countries are alarmed about threats to international peace, vowing to respond to what's going on.

On August 19, Trump's war department said it "conducted a flight test of a (nuclear capable) conventionally-configured ground-launched cruise missile at San Nicolas Island, California…impact(ing) its target after more than 500 kilometers of flight."

Neocon hardliner Pompeo falsely said "Russia is solely responsible for the treaty's demise," adding:

"With the full support of our NATO allies, the United States has determined Russia to be in material breach of the treaty, and has subsequently suspended our obligations under the treaty."

The above remarks are bald-faced Big Lies — Washington the deal-breaker, not Russia. 

By going along with unacceptable Trump regime actions, European nations jeopardized their own security — instead of breaking with the US on this crucially important issue.

Putin commented at length on the unacceptable US missile test after meeting with members of Russia's Security Council.

The Pentagon's MK-41 launcher, used in its August 18 missile test, currently deployed in Romania, coming to Poland, is "a direct and substantial flagrant violation of the INF Treaty," he stressed.

The Trump regime falsely claims otherwise. "(T)heir violation is evident. It is impossible to dispute it. They spoke about it themselves," Putin explained.

It was not coincidental that the August 18 Pentagon test occurred 16 days after the Trump regime's formal INF Treaty pullout.

It was further evidence "in a chain of events that had been planned and long time in advance," Putin noted, adding:

"This can only confirm the validity of our concerns that we have previously expressed. We had the information that the United States had long been engaged in the creation of weapons prohibited by the INF Treaty, and we had repeatedly pointed this out to" its officials.

Concerns expressed by Russia, China, and other nations about hostile US actions fall on deaf ears in Washington every time expressed.

Hegemons do what they please, ignoring international laws, norms, and standards, along with breaching treaties and agreements with other nations.

Putin correctly accused the Trump regime of conducting "a propaganda campaign about Russia's alleged non-compliance with the provisions of the (INF) Treaty" — an exercise in mass deception, establishment media going along with the ruse.

Putin: It's "obvious to everyone (that the) purpose (of the campaign) was to cover up both the work that Washington was carrying out in violation of the Treaty and the initial intention to pull out from it."

"All this leaves no doubt about the true plans of the United States. Having disposed of the established restrictions, they wanted to have a free hand to deploy previously prohibited missiles in various regions of the world."

The Asia/Pacific is coming first, announced by US war secretary Esper. Deployment near China and North Korea is also near Russia's Far East.

Most likely, deployment in Europe near Russia's Western border is next — Moscow to respond appropriately to threats posed by hostile US actions, Putin explained as follows:

"I instruct(ed) the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, and other relevant departments to analyze the level of threat posed by the aforementioned actions of the United States to our country and take comprehensive measures to prepare a symmetrical response."

Moscow prefers dialogue to resolve outstanding differences with the US — a waste of time when tried. Promises it makes are hollow.

Its ruling authorities operate extrajudicially by their own rules exclusively.

Time and again saying one thing and doing another shows they can never be trusted.

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