Bishkek: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday that Russia will use defence means to respond to threats caused by Washington's withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.
Last week, the Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed that it had received official notification from the US State Department about the US suspending its obligations under the INF and launching the withdrawal procedure. "We are not striving for an arms race of the Cold War era, [Russian President Vladimir Putin] was very clear about this. We will certainly respond with defense means to the threats that have emerged as a result of the US withdrawal from the INF Treaty", Lavrov said during his visit to Bishkek.
"I do not think that we are talking about the new Cold War. It's a new era now, the one characterized by the fact that the United States has embarked on scrapping the entire arms control system and strategic offensive arms limitation system. It is deplorable", the minister added.