Tag Archives: Retaliate

Putin says Russia will retaliate if U.S. quits nuclear missile treaty: agencies

Russia's President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with top officials of the Russian Defence Ministry in Sochi, Russia November 19, 2018. Picture taken November 19, 2018. Sputnik/Alexei Nikolsky/Kremlin via REUTERS

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday the Kremlin would retaliate if the United States withdrew from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty, Russian news agencies reported.

Putin discussed possible Russian retaliation with top Russian Defence Ministry officials and added that the Kremlin was ready to discuss the INF treaty with Washington.

The Cold War-era treaty, which rid Europe of land-based nuclear missiles, has come into question against a backdrop of renewed tensions between the West and Russia, most notably over Moscow’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and role in eastern Ukraine.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has accused Russia of non-compliance with the 31-year-old missile accord and warned it will pull out of the deal as a result. The Kremlin denies violating the pact.

NATO and Russian envoy addressed the dispute during rare talks on Oct. 31, with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg urging Moscow to make quick changes to comply in full with the treaty. He said Russia’s development of the land-based, intermediate-range SSC-8 cruise missile posed “a serious risk to strategic stability”.

European leaders worry any collapse of the INF treaty could lead to a new, destabilizing arms race.

(Reporting by Maxim Rodionov; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Russia to retaliate against U.S. in military observation flights row: agencies

Finnish President Sauli Niinisto (not in picture) meets Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Sergei Ryabkov at the President's Official Residence Mantyniemi, Helsinki, Finland September 12, 2017. Lehtikuva/Martti Kainulainen/via REUTERS

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia will retaliate against the United States in a row over a treaty that allows both states to conduct military observation flights over each other’s territory, Russia’s deputy foreign minister said, Russian news agencies reported on Wednesday.

In the latest sign of escalating tensions between the two countries, the United States has accused Russia of flouting the so-called Open Skies Treaty, an agreement designed to build confidence between the two countries’ militaries, and said it plans to take measures against Moscow.

The Wall Street Journal newspaper reported on Tuesday that would include restricting Russian military flights over American territory in response to what it said was Moscow preventing U.S. observation flights over its heavily militarized Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad.

Russian news agencies cited Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov on Wednesday as saying that Moscow was itself unhappy about Washington’s compliance with the same treaty and would take its own measures against the United States in response to any new U.S. restrictions.

“I have no doubt there will be a (Russian) response,” agencies cited Ryabkov as telling reporters.

“But before announcing something on this, we have to analyze the situation with our military and look at how we’ll respond to the Americans.”

Ryabkov was quoted as describing Washington’s approach to the disagreement as one-sided and as saying Russia would not yield to U.S. pressure for it to make concessions.

U.S. Marine General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday that Washington believed it would be best if the Open Skies Treaty with Russia continued, but that it should not be in place if Moscow was flouting it.

(Reporting by Maria Kiselyova/Andrew Osborn; Editing by Christian Lowe)

Russia, after U.S. meeting on diplomatic row, says ready to retaliate

The Russian Embassy's compound in Centreville, Maryland, U.S. is pictured in this still image taken December 30, 2016 from NBC4/WRC-TV helicopter video footage. MANDATORY CREDIT NBC4/WRC-TV/Handout via REUTERS

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday Moscow reserved the right to take retaliatory measures against the United States after a meeting in Washington ended without a deal on returning seized Russian diplomatic property.

Barack Obama, then U.S. president, ordered the seizure of two Russian diplomatic compounds and the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats in December over what he said was their involvement in hacking the 2016 U.S. presidential election campaign, something Russia flatly denies.

Moscow has said a lot would depend on the outcome of a meeting in Washington on Monday between Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov and U.S. Undersecretary of State Thomas Shannon who discussed the diplomatic row.

But the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday a resolution to the problem had not yet been found.

“The Russian side stressed (in the meeting) that if Washington does not remove this and other irritants, including continued obstacles to the work of our diplomatic institutions, we reserve the right to take retaliatory measures based on the principle of reciprocity,” the statement said.

Russia wanted to resume regular dialogue with the United States about strategic stability too, it said, saying it was up to Washington to make a move on the issue.

(Reporting by Anton Kolodyazhny; Writing by Dmitry Solovyov; Editing by Andrew Osborn)