Russia's President Vladimir Putin
Russia will develop missiles now banned under the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces treaty if the United States exits the arms control pact and starts making such weapons, President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday.
The United States delivered Russia a 60-day ultimatum on Tuesday to come clean about what Washington says is a violation of the 1987 nuclear arms control treaty, saying it would be forced to start a six-month process of withdrawal if nothing changes.
Putin, in televised comments, accused the United States of blaming Russia for violations as a pretext for Washington to exit the pact.
Putin noted that many countries produce missiles banned under the INF treaty, but that Moscow and Washington had undertaken to limit themselves with the accord signed in 1987.
"Now it seems our American partners believe that the situation has changed so much that the United States must also have such a weapon. What's our response? It's simple: in that case we will also do this," he said.
Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih met with U.S. special representative for Iran Brian Hook in Vienna on Wednesday, sources familiar with the meeting said.Hook, a senior policy adviser to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, met with Falih a day ahead of an OPEC meeting in Vienna which is due to debate oil production cuts.U.S. President Donald Trump has urged Saudi Arabia to refrain from output cuts in order to keep oil prices low. He said higher oil supplies were a payback from Riyadh for U.S. support for Saudi Arabia against arch-rival Iran.The United States reimposed sanctions on Tehran last month. The measure has severely reduced Iranian oil flows and Washington has said it wants ultimately to drive Iranian shipments down to zero. Iran calls for examining reasons of Qatar’s OPEC exitSaudi Arabia works on convincing Russia to join oil cutsKuwait says OPEC to discuss oil market conditions, stability
Saudi energy minister meets US Iran envoy in Vienna ahead of OPEC
Slovakia has expelled a Russian diplomat after information from military intelligence showed he engaged in espionage activities in the NATO and European Union member country, Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini said on Wednesday."We expelled him on November 22 and he left Slovakia within 48 hours," Pellegrini told reporters. 
Slovakia expels Russian diplomat, says engaged in espionage
Russia is holding naval and surface-to-air missile drills in the Black Sea region amid tensions with Ukraine and the West over the capture of three Ukrainian naval ships and their crews off the coast of Crimea last month.Two submarines, the Rostov-on-Don B-237 and the Stary Oskol B-262, practiced emergency deployments for detecting, accompanying and destroying sea and coastal targets with rocket fire, the Defence Ministry said.Submarine crews from the Black sea fleet were also due to practice deep dives and to work on techniques such as emergency surfacing, it said.The statement did not give a start or end date for the drills or say if the submarine exercises were part of larger-scale drills in the Black Sea and on the Crimean peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014.A navigation warning to shipping published by littoral state Turkey's navy said that "firing exercises" were expected in the region from Dec. 3 to Dec. 9.Separately, Pantsir medium-range surface-to-air missile systems in the east of Crimea practiced detecting, identifying and shooting down aerial targets, Interfax news agency cited a spokesman for the Black Sea Fleet as saying.The exercises come at a time of heightened tensions between Russia and the West over Russia's seizure on Nov. 25 of two small Ukrainian armoured artillery vessels and a tug boat and their crews.NATO foreign ministers discussed the Black Sea region with Ukraine and Georgia's foreign ministers on Tuesday while NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the U.S.-led military alliance had boosted its presence there in response to what he said were Russia's aggressive actions.Russia: US looks to bolster military presence in CyprusKremlin says US ultimatum on nuclear treaty is a tactical ployNATO calls on Russia to comply with INF TreatyUS warns Russia over ‘breach’ of nuclear treaty
Russia holds drills in Black Sea region amid Ukraine tensions
The U.S. eyes to strengthen its military presence in Cyprus, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Wednesday.A U.S. delegation recently inspected the strategic military objects in Cyprus with a view to use them for forward basing, Maria Zakharova told a news conference in Moscow.Further militarization of the island will have a destabilizing impact on Cyprus, as Moscow perceives such plans as anti-Russian and will take compensating measures, she said.- Russia denies US accusations of INF Treaty violationCommenting on the ultimatum by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who gave Moscow 60 days to comply with the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty over its alleged violations, Zakharova said there were no violations from the Russian side.She said the U.S. allegations are baseless, and no evidence was offered to Russia to prove the U.S. position."Again we confirm that the INF Treaty is one of the key pillars of strategic stability and international security", she said.The INF treaty was signed in 1987 by then Soviet Secretary General Mikhail Gorbachev and U.S. President Ronald Reagan and was largely designed to stave off the prospects of nuclear war in Europe.On Oct. 21, U.S. President Donald Trump announced his intention to withdraw from the treaty.
Russia: US looks to bolster military presence in Cyprus