Unic Press UK: The Russian President, Vladimir Putin has reiterated his concerns over the United States decision to withdraw from the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, which was signed in 1987, saying that such action of the U.S. could undermine the efforts at mitigating the risks of a nuclear war.
Speaking today at an annual question/answer news conference, Putin said it the consequences of U.S. withdrawal from the Treaty is unpredictable; and warned that the threat of a nuclear war is underestimated.
“The danger of such developments coming true is evident. Meanwhile, if, God forbid, something like that happens, it could destroy civilization and ruin the Earth. We are going to survive and we would ensure our security. We know how to do all these. Right now, the U..S is making steps towards pulling out from the INF. It is very difficult to imagine how the situation would develop further. What if those [American short- and intermediate-range] missiles are deployed in Europe, what shall we do? Of course, we’ll strengthen our security. They shouldn’t whine about we gaining some advantages. We aren’t winning some advantages, but we are keeping the balance, ensuring our security,” the Russian President, Vladimir Putin said.
Putin is not alone in denouncing the U.S. decision in October 2018 to move towards a withdrawal from the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty of 1987.
In October, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, Federica Mogherini and the French president, Emmanuel Macron and the UK’s defence secretary, Gavin Williamson would like the U.S. have advice the U.S to stay on with the Treaty.
Russia’s economy
Putin said: “GDP increased by 1.7% in ten months of this year. Capital investments increased by 4.1% in three quarters. Freight turnover and retail trade volumes are rising – plus 2.6%. Inflation remains acceptable for us, though it edged up slightly over the past week, by half a percent I believe, which is why (inflation) will go beyond the Central Bank’s target of 4% to 4.1-4.2%. After a long break, a slight, but still positive trend for growth of real disposable incomes of the population was recorded. According to the latest data, it was 0.5%. I hope that this trend continues as the real wages grow – over 10 months of this year the figure reaches 7.4%, and by the end of the year, around 6.9-7% is expected,” the TASS news agency reported.
Syria
Responding to a question on the decision of the U.S. to withdraw troops from Syria. The Russian President said:
“We’ve yet to see any signs of the U.S troops withdrawing from Syria., though the might eventually withdraw. We also know that the United States military has been in Afghanistan for 17 years, and every year to would announce that troops would withdraw from Afghanistan, but nothing really happens.”
Putin says he’s unsure about the position of the United Nations on the formation of the Syrian Constitutional Committee. He said:
“We agreed a candidate list. The is not completely satisfied with this list, but he accepted it. Turkey accepted the list. Iran accepted it too. We’ve presented the list to the UN, but I’m unsure what is going on at the UN.”
Khashoggi
Putin: “Jamal Khashoggi was assassinated, and everyone knows that as there’s evidence. Sergei Skripal is alive, but there are sanctions against Russia because they wish to stop Russia’s growth. In the case of Khashoggi, everyone is silent and there’s no sanctions against Saudi Arabia.”
