Russia supports making the Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty a multilateral agreement to include not only China, but also NATO states, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov told reporters.

“Russia has been and is in favor of making this treaty multilateral. To ensure that not only the People’s Republic of China would enter it, but that all NATO states and, primarily, France and the United Kingdom, should be part of it,” Antonov said.

The diplomat noted that the idea to make the INF Treaty multilateral is not new, but some 10 years old.

“It was Russia’s initiative when we proposed to make the treaty multilateral. Then, we first addressed it to the countries of NATO and, of course, to France and the UK. These are nuclear states. We said that it would be great if they joined this conversation. However, back then we were told that no one had such missiles and that they would not need to join. We were refused. Unfortunately, our efforts did not succeed and we could not make it multilateral,” Antonov explained.

Washington has still not given notice to Moscow about its intentions to leave the Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov told reporters.

“The United States still has not given us any notice, required in accordance with the provisions of the INF, of their intention to withdraw from the treaty … As I understand, the United States is continuing consultations with its allies on the issue. We have already heard the concerns of European countries regarding a possible pullout of the United States from the INF,” Antonov said.

The diplomat pointed out that the INF Treaty did not concern the security of the United States, as it provided for the security of Europe, NATO countries in Europe and Russia.

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