French Diplomat To Attend Russian Foreign Ministry's Briefing On INF Treaty - Embassy

The French charge d'affaires ad interim in Russia will participate in the upcoming closed briefing at the Russian Foreign Ministry on the future of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty) and the situation regarding Russia's 9M729 missile, a spokesperson for the French Embassy in Moscow told Sputnik on Thursday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th January, 2019) The French charge d'affaires ad interim in Russia will participate in the upcoming closed briefing at the Russian Foreign Ministry on the future of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty) and the situation regarding Russia's 9M729 missile, a spokesperson for the French Embassy in Moscow told Sputnik on Thursday.

"The charge d'affaires ad interim at the French embassy [in Moscow] will partake in the Russian Foreign Ministry's briefing on Friday," the spokesperson said.

As of now, German, Greek, Swedish and UK missions have confirmed their participation in the event.

The historic nuclear treaty, which was signed by the Soviet Union and the United States in 1987 and envisaged the destruction of all cruise or ground-launched ballistic missiles with ranges between 310 and 3,400 miles, faced uncertainty last October when US President Donald Trump announced that Washington would pull out of the agreement because of Russia's alleged violations.

In particular, the United States has repeatedly voiced concern over Russia's 9M729 missile, which, according to Washington, violates the provisions of the nuclear treaty. Moscow has refuted US accusations as unsubstantiated, insisting that the missile was tested at the range permitted by the agreement.

Russia, in turn, has complained that launchers on US defense systems in Europe are capable of firing cruise missiles at ranges that are banned by the agreement.