MOSCOW - The Russian military announced on Wednesday the specifications of its new missile in an attempt to refute US statements that the missile violated the START treaty on intermediate weapons, concluded in 1987.
The commander of the Russian missile and artillery forces, General Mikhail Mattejski, told a meeting with foreign military officials that his missile "9m729" does not conflict with the treaty, which occurred during the Cold War, according to the Associated Press.
Matvijski said the maximum range of the new missile was 480 kilometers.
The United States has announced its intention to withdraw from the treaty, saying that the new Russian missile violates the provisions of the treaty, which prohibits the production, testing and deployment of ballistic missiles ranging between 500 and 5500 km.
Timeout and dialogue
Washington has hoped for Moscow until February 2 to commit itself to destroying the "illegal" missile system, otherwise it will withdraw from it.
Russia has said on several occasions that the new missile, which was confirmed by its recent existence, does not violate the nuclear treaty, and expressed willingness to dialogue, but Washington considers the missile a strong threat to Europe and Asia, "the estimated range between 500 and 1500 kilometers, and can carry nuclear warheads.
Mutual accusations
Since 2014, the United States has accused Russia of violating the treaty, but Moscow denies the charges and says Washington is violating them by deploying a missile defense system in Romania.
Moscow says the US missile system is capable of firing cruise missiles that threaten Russian territory.
The implications of the expected withdrawal
Washington's withdrawal from the 1987 agreement is expected to lead to the deployment of US missiles in Asia and the Pacific, putting the Chinese security at risk, and could push Beijing, if it happens, to increase spending on its missile program.
For its part, Russia threatened to respond if Washington announced its withdrawal from the nuclear treaty.
According to the Kremlin spokesman, Moscow has said it will reciprocate, which will develop missiles if the United States begins to develop new missiles, which means that the world may enter an arms race does not know when it ends.
