WASHINGTON: Ratcheting up tensions with Moscow, Washington yesterday urged Russia to destroy prohibited weapons after it accused Russian leaders of flouting a 1987 treaty banning medium-range cruise missiles.
A 2014 report submitted to Congress on compliance with arms control and non-proliferation accords found Russia was “in violation of its obligations under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF),” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters.
“We encourage Russia to return to compliance with its obligations under the treaty and to eliminate any prohibited items in a verifiable manner.” Under the 1987 INF treaty Moscow had committed not to possess, produce or flight test a ground launch cruise missile with a range of capability of 500 to 5,500 kilometers, Psaki said, though she did not specify when the violation had occurred.
US Secretary of State John Kerry spoke earlier Tuesday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and called for “senior level, bilateral dialogue immediately” on the arms issues.
The report submitted to Congress on Tuesday comes amid mounting tensions between Russia and the United States, which accuses Moscow of fomenting unrest in eastern Ukraine.
But Psaki insisted the US “first raised this issue last year” with Russian leaders.
“To be clear this is nothing to do with Ukraine,” she said, even as Washington was drawing up new sanctions against Moscow for its backing of pro-Russia separatists in Ukraine.
AFP
