In the event of the abolition of the INFMD, the goals of Russia will be countries with US missiles

In the case of canceling the contract for restriction of medium and smaller missiles (RSMD) of the country that have placed American missiles, will become the potential goals of the Russian response. This was stated by the head of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation Valery Gerasimov at a meeting with foreign military attache on Wednesday.

According to Gerasimov, US plans to get out of the agreement can negatively affect strategic stability in the world. The head of the Russian General Staff also noted that Russia is taking response measures to deploy about its borders. At the same time, he claimed that Moscow was not involved in the "ruin of weapons race." In recent years, the financing of the Russian army remains at the level of 50 billion dollars a year and has a tendency to decrease, and the US military budget is more than 14 times, the general said.

The day before, the Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu said that Russia was taking measures "to increase the combat capabilities of troops in the context of an increase in arms race." They will cost a budget of 22 trillion rubles until 2027 and will allow you to maintain the necessary pace of re -equipment of the army and navy, said Shoigu.

In October, US President Donald Trump announced the intention of Washington to leave the agreement on the elimination of medium and shorter missiles (RSMD), accusing Russia of violation of the agreement. The agreement, signed in 1987, prohibits the deployment of ground -based cruise missiles with a range of 500 to 5500 kilometers.

Moscow rejects the charges of violation of the agreement. The Russian authorities called the “blackmail” of the US decision and threatened the “military-technical response measures”.

The other day, a group of Democratic senators called the intention of Trump to leave the contract "a" political and geostrategic gift of Russia ", which will allow the Kremlin to" expand the production and deployment of "missile systems that threaten Europe. Earlier, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg accused Russia of deploying rockets capable of carrying nuclear warheads against the borders of Europe.

The day before, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on Russia to recognize violations of the INFMD and return to the fulfillment of the terms of the agreement. The fate of the contract now depends primarily on Moscow, said Pompeo. If Russia does not return to the fulfillment of obligations, the United States reserves the right to withdraw from the contract after 60 days.