Russia says it will not let US see missile at heart of nuclear dispute
Washington has threatened to pull out of 1987 arms control treaty, alleging new Russian missile violates pact
Russia says it will not let the US inspect a new nuclear-capable cruise missile at the heart of a dispute between Washington and Moscow that risks unravelling a landmark arms control treaty. Washington has threatened to pull out of the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), alleging that the new Russian missile, the Novator 9M729 (called SSC-8 by Nato), violates the pact, which bans either side from stationing short- and intermediate-range, land-based missiles in Europe. Russia says the missile’s range puts it outside the treaty altogether and is not as long as Washington alleges, meaning that it is fully compliant with the treaty. It has accused the US of inventing a false pretext to exit a treaty it wants to leave anyway so as to develop new missiles. The US issued Russia a 60-day ultimatum earlier in December to come clean about the alleged missile violation and return to “full and verifiable compliance”. That means Moscow is under pressure to scrap the new missile ...
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