Russian TV: "Washington does not believe in its missile defense system and is trying to 'catch up' with Russia"

On his popular show, Vesti Nedeli, on state-owned Russian television channel Russia 1, Russian TV anchor Dmitry Kiselev accused the U.S. of developing missiles that violate the INF Treaty from which Washington withdrew. Kiselev informed that this August, the U.S. is planning to test a cruise missile with a range of about 600 miles and in November they will test a ballistic missile with a range of 1,800-2,400 miles. "This is a striking speed and obvious evidence that the development of the weapons, which the INF Treaty, buried by the Americans, applied to, has long been carried out in the US… For several years, the Americans only accused Russia of violating the INF Treaty. Meanwhile, they secretly developed missiles, precisely in violation of the same treaty," Kiselev stated.

On December 5, 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin remarked that prior to the US announcement about withdrawing from the INF Treaty, Washington allocated funds for the development of relevant missiles. According to Kiselev, this means that Washington does not believe in its missile defense system and is trying to ‘catch up’ with Russia. "After all, the Russian Army will be armed with the Avangard hypersonic missile this year. And the Zircon hypersonic sea-based missile has been successfully tested. This formidable weapon is capable of overcoming any missile defense system," Kiselev concluded. The video was uploaded to YouTube on March 15, 2019.

Following are excerpts:

Dmitry Kiselev: Last Thursday, Associated Press reported, referring to its own sources, that the U.S. is planning to test this August a cruise missile with a range of about 600 miles. And in November, they'll test a ballistic missile with a range of 1,800-2,400 miles. The agency's source said that the new cruise missile will be deployed within a year and a half. This is a striking speed and obvious evidence that the development of the weapons, which the INF Treaty – buried by the Americans – applied to, has long been carried out in the U.S., and they already have a missile. But for several years, the Americans only accused Russia of violating the INF Treaty. Meanwhile, they secretly developed missiles, precisely in violation of the same treaty. The Russian president also talked about it.

Vladimir Putin (In Clip): Before the USA's withdrawal from that treaty was announced, Congress allocated money for research and development to create those missiles. It means that the decision was made long ago. But it was done quietly, as they thought that we wouldn't notice it. But the Pentagon's budget contains a provision on the development of those missiles. And only after that did they publicly announced their withdrawal.

Dmitry Kiselev: It means that the Americans themselves don't believe in their expensive and meaningless missile defense system. They're reducing budget expenditures for it and increasing expenditures for offensive weapons. It's probably because the "cartoons" from President Putin about the new Russian weapons turned out to be not just "cartoons." After all, the Russian Army will be armed with the Avangard hypersonic missile this year. And the Zircon hypersonic sea-based missile has been successfully tested. This formidable weapon is capable of overcoming any missile defense system. So, it already doesn't make any sense to invest billions in one. They need to catch up with Russia. That's why in the new American military budget, they allocate as much as $2.6 billion for the development of hypersonic weapons.