BRUSSELS, Belgium – One of the cornerstones of world peace and security is in danger. Vladimir Putin said Russia is withdrawing from an intermediate missile treaty.
NATO’S secretary-general said Friday that Russia is not responding to western negotiators who are trying to maintain the major missile treaty.
The 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty between the U.S. and Russia will expire August 2nd.
Last February, the Trump administration began the six-month process of withdrawing from the treaty, saying Russia is developing a missile that does not comply with the treaty.
The treaty will end unless Russia agrees to destroy its missiles by the August deadline.
“No, we didn’t see any sign of Russia being willing to come back into compliance with the INF [Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces] Treaty,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said. “And again, the facts on the ground, that’s the problem. The problem is that there are new missiles, nuclear-capable, intermediate range missiles, in clear violation of the INF treaty which has been developed, field-deployed by Russia over the last years.”
The Pentagon says Russia’s SSC-8 ground-fired cruise missile falls within the intermediate-range bracket And could allow Moscow to launch a nuclear strike in Europe with little or no notice.
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