US Readying Military, Economic Options to Russian Missile Treaty Violation | Defense News | defensenews.com: Pentagon and State Department officials are reviewing what military and economic options they can employ if Russia continues development of a cruise missile it has tested in violation of a cornerstone nuclear weapons treaty between Washington and Moscow, senior US officials say.
“Russia’s lack of meaningful engagement on this issue — if it persists — will ultimately require the United States to take actions to protect its interests and security along with those of its allies and partners,” Brian McKeon, principal deputy undersecretary of defense for policy told the House Armed Services Committee’s subcommittee on strategic forces on Wednesday.
In July, the United States went public with its concerns that Russia violated the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) by testing a prohibited ground-launched cruise missile.
The document — signed in 1987 — bans American and Russian ground-launched ballistic or cruise missiles capable of flying between 300 miles and 3,400 miles.
But American officials said the Russians tested a new medium-range, ground-launched cruise missile as early as 2008, and Russian officials have been unresponsive to attempts at dialogue by US officials, most resently at a series of talks in September.
