U.S. allies have “no confusion” that Russia “remains in violation” of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty of 1987, and the Obama Administration has seen “no indication” that the country plans to return to compliance, Jon Wolfsthal, National Security Council Senior Director for Arms Control and Nonproliferation, said during a speech at the State Department yesterday. "[I]t’s very clear that Russia remains in violation of the INF Treaty,” Wolfsthal said during the Generation Prague Conference. “Russia has no confusion about that and our allies have no confusion about that. We should have no confusion about that. We have provided information to our allies; we have engaged with Russia so that they understand the nature of our concerns. They are unwilling to engage with us in a substantive way, and that’s very unfortunate.”
The U.S. first accused Russia in July 2014 of breaking the INF Treaty, which prohibits the development and deployment of conventional and nuclear cruise missiles that can hit ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers. Moscow has denied the claim, and has asserted that the U.S. is in violation of the treaty. U.S. officials have released few details of Russia’s alleged violation. Declining to provide decisional specifics, Wolfsthal said the U.S. is focused on stopping Russia from gaining military advantage through its breakage of the treaty. “We’re also very focused on that fact that, as the President said, violations must have consequences, and that’s something that is a core part of our national security policy, that we sign agreements, we expect them to be complied with, and if they’re not, there will be consequences for that violation, and in terms of what we’re evaluating, we’re evaluating a wide range of diplomatic, economic and military options in terms of how we respond to the violation,” he said.
Jobs