At the heart of the issue is the 1987 treaty that bans medium-range missiles, which are defined as ground-launched ballistic or cruise missiles capable of flying 300 to 3,400 miles. That accord, which was signed by President Ronald Reagan and Mikhail S. Gorbachev, who was then the Soviet leader, helped seal the end of the Cold War and has been regarded as a cornerstone of American and Russian arms control efforts. Obama administration officials concluded by the end of 2011 that the cruise missile test was a compliance concern, officials have said. Rose Gottemoeller, the State Department’s senior arms control official, first raised the violation concern with Russian officials in May 2013.
In January, The New York Times reported that American officials had informed the NATO allies that Russia had tested a ground-launched cruise missile, raising serious concerns about Russia’s compliance with the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, or I.N.F. treaty, as it is commonly called. The State Department said at the time that the issue was under review and that the Obama administration was not yet ready to formally declare it a treaty violation.
In recent months, however, the issue has been taken up by top-level officials, including a meeting this month of the Principals’ Committee, a cabinet-level body that includes Mr. Obama’s national security adviser, the defense secretary, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the secretary of state and the director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
