Russian scientists are developing armaments capable of responding to external threats posed by the United States, said the former head of the Committee on Defense of Russia’s Federation Council Viktor Ozerov on October 13, 2017.

Alexander Yemelyanov, an official of the Russian Defense Ministry, said that the U.S. efforts to build up a missile defense system with the number of missiles exceeding 1,000 by the year 2022 poses a threat for Russia’s nuclear deterrent and for global security. He has also sounded an alarm at the United States’ developing prompt global strike systems, which could also upset the balance of power. Commenting on the U.S. weapons systems development, Senator Ozerov emphasized that the American side “hasn’t walked away from the third and the fourth position areas in Europe, and has committed to a strategic missile defense complex to be deployed in the U.S.”

The Senator has called attention to the fact that when Russia and the United States ratified the New START treaty, the Russian side reserved the right to abrogate the agreement in the event the balance between strategic offensive and defensive armaments becomes disrupted.

According to Senator Ozerov, “the U.S. puts at risk the [New START treaty], which is a major agreement in the field of nuclear missile disarmament.”

Commenting on the Defense Ministry’s statement on instant global strike development, Senator Ozerov emphasized that the Russian General Staff has been aware of the United States’ initiatives in that regard for a long period of time already.

According to the Russian lawmaker, Russia can’t influence the development of these systems, as there are no bilateral agreements between the two countries. “We are developing our own armed forces and there is an armament program that is due to be accepted until the end of this year,” Mr. Ozerov noted.

According to Senator Ozerov, the Russian side is perfecting the most effective use and application of the weapons system that the country’s armed forces have at their disposal.

The member of Russia’s Federation Council doesn’t think it possible that the United States can use the global strike complexes against North Korea. The Russian lawmaker believes that the U.S. military has enough other armaments to launch an offensive “without the lightning bolts.”

He has emphasized that in the event the U.S. strikes North Korea, “the country would not be totally destroyed, and the retaliation that follows would be palpable.” “The U.S. officials understand it, and it is one of the deterring factors,” Mr. Ozerov believes.

Signed at a 1987 summit meeting between the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and then-U.S. President Ronald Reagan, the INF treaty obligated both sides to eliminate their short- and intermediate-range missiles. It came into force on June 1, 1988. The treaty allowed for hundreds of nuclear-tipped missiles that were deployed in Europe to be scrapped amidst the Cold War arms race.