US, Russia should not stop dialogue on arms control – ambassador Huntsman

The United States and Russia should not stop their dialogue on arms control, outgoing US ambassador to Moscow Jon Huntsman has said.

He also stressed that Washington has no plans to deploy intermediate-range and shorter-range ballistic missiles in Europe. If the US feels the need to deploy such weapons, it is more likely to choose the Asia-Pacific region, Huntsman said in an interview with Echo of Moscow radio station, citing the Pentagon chief.

Plans to deploy the new US missiles to Europe were announced after Washington’s warning in February 2019 that it was withdrawing from the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has said that Moscow plans to monitor US activities in developing and deploying ground-based intermediate- and short-range missiles.