"When the moratorium was announced, we made it clear that it applied only to deployment, and did not mention any halt to (research and development) activities," RIA news agency quoted Ryabkov as telling state-run Rossiya-1 state broadcaster in an interview. Earlier this month, Russia said it was lifting what it called a unilateral moratorium on deploying intermediate-range missiles, saying this was a forced response to moves by the U.S. and its allies.