NYT: US says Russia secretly deployed missile that violates arms treaty

14 February 2017, 7:19 pm

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White House officials say Russia has covertly deployed a cruise missile that violates a 1987 arms control treaty that helped to bring about the end of the Cold War, the New York Times reports.

According to the report, former president Barack Obama said in 2014 that the missile — then its test phase — was in breach of the treaty, and sought to persuade Russia to “correct the violation.”

However, the paper says, Moscow pushed ahead with the missile and is now in possession of “a fully operational unit.”

The paper speculates that deploying the missiles “could also increase the military threat to NATO nations.” It quotes former NATO commander Gen. Philip M. Breedlove as saying that such “a militarily significant development” cannot “go unanswered.”