The Department notes in a statement that the conditions for maintaining a unilateral stop have changed since the USA began deploying short- and medium-range robots in Asia and Europe.
The Kremlin says that Washington in recent years has conducted tests and mass-produced weapons of this type and prepared for their deployment. The statement particularly highlights the deployment of robot systems in Europe where they have been tested during military exercises with an "anti-Russian bias".
The USA left in August 2019 the so-called INF agreement, which was signed during the Cold War, on disarmament of medium-range robots. Thereafter, Russia declared a unilateral moratorium, a temporary stop, which meant that Russia would not deploy such robots unless the USA did.
The decision to lift the moratorium comes just a few days after the US President Donald Trump decided to move two nuclear submarines to "suitable regions" after "provocative" Russian statements.
