Moscow describes Washington threats to destroy its warheads as ‘dangerous’

Russia said yesterday it regards as dangerous a statement by Washington’s envoy to Nato who said Moscow must halt its covert development of a banned cruise missile system or the US would seek to destroy it before it becomes operational.

The US Ambassador to Nato, Kay Bailey Hutchison, said on Tuesday that Washington was still committed to a diplomatic solution but remained prepared to consider a military strike if Russian development of the medium-range system continued.

“At that point, we would be looking at the capability to take out a [Russian] missile that could hit any of our countries,” Ms Hutchison said.

“Countermeasures [by the US] would be to take out the missiles that are in development by Russia in violation of the treaty,” she said, referring to the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty that bans medium-range missiles capable of hitting Europe or Alaska.

“They are on notice,” she said.

“It seems that people who make such statements do not realise the level of their responsibility and the danger of aggressive rhetoric,” Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told the Tass news agency.

In the past, the Russian ministry has said it was ready for talks with the US to try to preserve the treaty and would comply with its obligations if the US did.

Ms Hutchison tweeted on Tuesday that she did not mean to suggest the US would strike Russia pre-emptively.

“Russia must return to INF Treaty compliance or we will need to match its capabilities to protect US and Nato interests.

“The current situation, with Russia in blatant violation, is untenable,” she wrote. The US accusations are likely to further strain relations between Moscow and the West that are at a low over Russia’s 2014 seizure of Crimea, its bombing campaign in Syria and accusations of meddling in western elections.

“We have been trying to send a message to Russia for years that we know they are violating the treaty.

“We have shown Russia the evidence that we have that they are violating the treaty,” Ms Hutchison said. “We are laying down the markers so that our allies will help us bring Russia to the table.”

US Secretary of Defence Jim Mattis said he would discuss the issue with his Nato counterparts at talks in Brussels scheduled to begin yesterday.

“I cannot forecast where it will go, it is a decision for the president, but I can tell you that on Capitol Hill and in the State Department, there is a lot of concern about this situation and I’ll return with the advice of our allies and engage in that discussion to determine the way ahead,” he said in Paris.

Ms Hutchison tweeted on Tuesday that she did not mean to suggest the US would strike Russia pre-emptively