U.S. plans new missile test after demise of treaty
WASHINGTON — The United States plans to test a new missile in coming weeks that would have been prohibited under a landmark, 32yearold arms control treaty that the U.S. and Russia ripped up on Friday.
Washington and Moscow walked out of the Intermediaterange Nuclear Forces treaty that President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev signed in 1987, raising fears of a new arms race. The U.S. blamed Moscow for the death of the treaty. It said that for years Moscow has been developing and fielding weapons that violate the treaty and threaten the United States and its allies, particularly in Europe.
“Russia is solely responsible for the treaty’s demise,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement released Friday.
Russia pointed a finger at America.
“The denunciation of the INF treaty confirms that the U.S. has embarked on destroying all international agreements that do not suit them for one reason or another,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said. “This leads to the actual dismantling of the existing arms control system.”
Exiting the treaty, however, could have an upside for the United States. Washington has complained for years that the arms control playing field was unfair. U.S. officials argued that not only was Russia violating the treaty and developing prohibited weapons, but that China also was making similar noncompliant weapons, leaving the U.S. alone in complying with the aging arms control pact.
Now, the U.S. is free to develop weapons systems that were previously banned. The U.S. is planning a test flight of such a weapon in coming weeks, according to a senior administration official, who spoke only on condition of anonymity.
The official downplayed the test and said it was not meant as a provocation against Russia. Because the United States adhered to the treaty for 32 years, the United States is “years away” from effectively deploying weapons previously banned under the agreement, the official said.