The US is 'throwing in' misleading information concerning the country's dialogue with Russia on the INF Treaty in order to justify withdrawing from the treaty, Ryabkov noted.
"After public statements by US President Donald Trump about Washington’s intention to unilaterally withdraw from the INF Treaty, the attention of politicians, diplomats, other relevant experts, and the international community is riveted on this story. There is a growing awareness in the world of the risks and threats that this ill-advised decision may entail not only for regional but also for global international security and stability in general," Ryabkov said at the special briefing.
New Arms Race
After the US withdrawal from the INF Treaty, the world will engage in a large-scale arms race on a new technological level, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov noted.
READ MORE: EU Hoping INF Treaty May Still Be Salvaged — Mogherini
"Obviously, the main threat lies in the risk of entire regions descending into the arms race. Notably, this time this it will be a multilateral arms race at a new technological level," Ryabkov stressed.
Moscow hopes that a new arms race will not happen, Ryabkov said.
"We have paid attention to media reports that the United States have been calling on their NATO allies — not for the first year and not without certain success — to formulate possible options of responsive military measures over alleged violations of the INF by Russia. This includes certain options of restraining nuclear expansion. In this context, we would like to warn that such development [of the situation] would be quite destabilising, and we will be forced to take it into consideration in our military build-up," Ryabkov said at a briefing.
He specified that Russia did not have 'large' capabilities of preventing the INF Treaty from being disrupted.
Russia Informed US 9M729 Missile Was Not Developed or Tested in Violation of INF
Moscow informed Washington that the 9M729 cruise missile, which had caused the US concern, had not been developed or tested for a range prohibited by the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Monday.
"We told the American side that the time limits earlier indicated by it for tests of the 9M729 missile were not correct. We indicated the real-time limits, we provided explanations about Washington's erroneous ideas on the types of launchers used to carry out the tests," Ryabkov told reporters.
US Land Deployment of Mk 41 Missile Launching Systems 'Flagrant' Violation of INF
Moscow considers the US land deployment of the Mk 41 missile launching systems under the Aegis Ashore systems in Europe to be a direct and flagrant violation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said.
"Contrary to the agreement, the aforementioned launchers allow the combat use of the Tomahawk medium-range cruise missiles and other strike weapons from the ground. We consider this a direct and flagrant violation of the INF Treaty," Ryabkov told reporters.
Russian Response to US Withdrawal From INF to Be Efficient, Low-Cost
Russia's response to the US withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty will be efficient and low-cost, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov stressed.
"Regarding specific response measures, as has been repeatedly stated at our top level, the response will be effective. I would add 'relatively low-cost'," Ryabkov told reporters.
He said Russia would like to hope Washington will show the political will to continue talks with Moscow on strategic stability.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also commented on the matter on 24 November, saying that the planned withdrawal of the United States from the INF Treaty with Russia would be 'a rather incautious step'.
READ MORE: Moscow Reiterates Its Position on INF Treaty Amid Uncertain US Commitment
The INF Treaty was signed in 1987 by then-leader of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev and then US President Ronald Reagan who agreed to destroy all cruise or ground-launched ballistic missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometres (310 and 3,400 miles).
