On February 4, 2019, Russia announced that it would suspend its obligations under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty following the U.S. announced withdrawal from the treaty on February 1, 2019. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated that the United States has been in breach of the treaty “since 1999, when it started testing combat unmanned aerial vehicles that have the same characteristics as land-based cruise missiles banned by the Treaty,” and called the U.S. accusations that Russia is in breach of the treaty “unfounded accusations.” President Putin stated, “Our US partners announced that they are suspending their participation in the INF Treaty, and we are suspending it too. They said that they are engaged in research, development and design work, and we will do the same.”