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THE UNITED NATIONS – Russia lost a vote Friday that would have allowed the US General Assembly to consider a resolution in favor of a historic missile treaty and oppose the decision of US President Donald Trump to withdraw from it.
The vote to include on the agenda of the Assembly's disarmament committee a Russian resolution supporting the intermediate-range nuclear forces treaty was carried by 31 countries for, 55 against and 54 abstentions .
Russian arms control official Andrei Belousov said he did not understand the result, noting that most of the countries that abstained "actively support nuclear disarmament" and that a significant number of those who voted against the procedural measure are favorable to the preservation of the INF Treaty. .
Russia "has tried to send a serious signal to US political circles about the danger of the path chosen by the current (US) administration," he said. "We thought that such an initiative would be supported by all the sensitive forces."
Robert Wood, US Ambassador to the Conference on Disarmament, described the Russian proposal as a "highly politicized resolution" that was not submitted by the deadline for consideration by the disarmament committee.
Russia on Thursday presented the draft to the Assembly's disarmament commission, but the United States protested that it was after the deadline for submission of the resolutions, set for 18 October. Russia has argued that Trump's announcement comes after the deadline, said spokesman for the Russian mission Fedor Strzhizhovskiy.
He added that the chairman of the commission had said Friday that he was unable to find a consensus on the way forward. Russia then called for a vote.
A UN diplomat, who requested anonymity because the consultations were private, said the European Union and NATO countries had voted against the disarmament committee's decision and asked others to abstain in order to prevent further escalation and promote US-Russian negotiations. Solution.
The United States accuses Russia of violating the 1987 INF Treaty, which eliminates all ballistic and cruise missiles launched from the ground with a range of 500 to 5,500 km (300 to 400 km) .
In 2017, national security officials at the White House said that Russia had deployed a cruise missile in violation of the treaty. Earlier, the Obama administration had accused the Russians of violating the pact by developing and testing a banned cruise missile.
Russia has repeatedly denied that it has violated the treaty and accused the United States of not complying with it.
Wood repeated the US accusations on Friday, informing the disarmament committee after the vote that for five-and-a-half years the United States had been trying to involve Russia in the issue of treaty violations. He added that Moscow had recently admitted to having made a missile launched on the ground, but that it did not violate the limits of the range.
"We presented them with information to the contrary, but they continued to deny their non-compliance with the treaty," Wood said. "But instead of reacting to our commitment, we have received denials and ridiculous accusations that the United States is violating the treaty."
Belousov, deputy director of the Department of Non-Proliferation and Arms Control at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, replied that "we have been filing complaints since 2000" in the United States, but "they are escaping us".
He said that at a recent meeting, the United States had declared that Russia was preparing for war.
"Yes, Russia is preparing for war, and I am confirming it, yes, we are preparing to defend our homeland, our territorial integrity, our principles, our people," said Belousov. "The Russian Federations are preparing for war and the United States of America is preparing for a war … it is."
He said that the disarmament committee had missed an opportunity, but that Russia would work with the countries that supported its position to convince the United States "to adopt a constructive position, to continue the dialogue" within the framework of INF "and to refrain from developing its nuclear potential".
Belousov said that Russia would go directly to the General Assembly and eventually, if "the events were developing in a negative way and if the United States withdrew from the treaty, the Security Council", Russia and the States States with a veto on resolutions.
