国际英语新闻:Russia still honors INF Treaty: official

MOSCOW, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Russia continues to comply with the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) between Moscow and Washington, Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said Wednesday.

"We have to admit that, in terms of military politics, the situation in Europe and the world has changed radically for the past three decades," Rossiyskaya Gazeta daily quoted Antonov as saying.

"Today, the number of countries armed with intermediate-range missiles approaches 30, a majority of whom are in vicinity of Russia, while the U.S. and NATO are intensively deploying a global missile defense," the deputy minister said.

He added that the U.S. allegation of Moscow's violation of the INF Treaty is part of the anti-Russian campaign launched by Washington over the events in Ukraine.

"Its goal is to escalate the recent information war, accuse us of not honoring international obligations and demonstrate 'the international isolation of Moscow'," Antonov said.

U.S. President Barack Obama has reportedly warned Russian President Vladimir Putin that Moscow was violating the INF Treaty by testing a new cruise missile.

On Aug. 2, Russian Foreign Ministry called the U.S. allegation "another attempt to discredit Russia" which "looks biased and brazen, especially in consideration of how loosely the United States itself has applied the INF Treaty provisions on numerous occasions."

The INF Treaty, signed in 1987, bars the signatories from possessing, producing or flight-testing such cruise missiles with a range of 500 to 5,500 km.

The Russian Defense Ministry said in late July that Moscow had been strictly adherent to the treaty, while the country's Foreign Ministry suggested discussing the issue within the NATO framework.