Vladimir Putin held an emergency meeting with the permanent members of the Security Council. They discussed the INF Treaty against the background of Washington's test of a land-based missile. The president made an important statement, "Given the current circumstances, I task the Russian Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and other relevant departments to analyze the threat, which the mentioned actions by the United States pose to our country".
Vladimir Putin: "On August 18th, the United States made a test launch of a land-based cruise missile, which according to the American Department of Defense, hit the target at the distance of over 500 km (300 miles). Such weapons are prohibited by the INF Treaty of 1987. In addition, the fact that they used the Mk 41 multipurpose launch system fully proves that Russia's claims against the U.S. while the treaty was in force had grounds. We repeatedly pointed out that the deployment of such launch systems on the ground in Romania and as a part of the anti-missile defense system and the upcoming deployment in Poland by the U.S. is a direct and material breach of the INF Treaty. The Americans stubbornly denied that.
They claimed that land-based Mk 41 systems supposedly aren't designed for launches of Tomahawk sea-based cruise missiles. The fact of the violation is now evident. It's impossible to challenge it. It was they who stated it. Of course, there's a question of how we should understand now what will be deployed in Romania and Poland. Anti-missile defense systems or missile assault systems with a pretty long range? It's also remarkable that the test of the missile with the parameters prohibited by the treaty took place 16 days after the end of the renunciation of the given treaty initiated by Washington. Obviously, it wasn't an impromptu act but another link in a chain of well-planned measures that had already been taken. This only proves that there were grounds for the concern we expressed earlier. We had information that the U.S. had long worked on the development of the weapons prohibited by the INF Treaty. We pointed that out to our partners repeatedly. But instead of fixing that outrageous situation and continuing to abide by the treaty, the Americans put on a propaganda campaign that it's Russia that violates the treaty.
As it's obvious to everyone now, its only goal was to cover up the works that Washington carried out in violation of the treaty and its original intention to withdraw from it. It makes the U.S.'s true intentions obvious to everyone. Getting rid of the restrictions set forth, they wanted to untie their hands to deploy in different parts of the world he missiles that used to be prohibited. American politicians occupying high posts claim that they can begin to deploy new systems from the Asia-Pacific region. But this also affects our vital interests because it's close to Russia's borders. As you know, we've never wanted, don't want to, and won't be dragged into a costly arms race, which would be destructive for our economy. I'll reiterate that Russia's defense expenditures are the seventh-largest in the world, which is pretty modest. We spend less than the U.S., China, Saudi Arabia, Great Britain, France, and Japan. Our development of highly advanced weaponry, which have no other counterparts, was caused and provoked by the U.S.'s unilateral withdrawal from the ABM Treaty in 2003. Of course, we had to and ought to ensure the security of our people and country. We're doing it now and, undoubtedly, we'll do it in the future. At the same time, given the new circumstances, I task the Russian Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and other relevant departments to analyze the threat, which the mentioned actions by the United States pose to our country and take adequate measures to prepare a tit-for-tat response. At the same time, Russia is still open to an equal and constructive dialogue with the U.S. to restore trust and strengthen international security".
