The Hill – Russia announced Tuesday that it is planning to develop two new land-based missile launch systems in response to President Trump’s announcement last week that the U.S. will withdraw from a landmark nuclear weapons treaty.
Moscow intends to develop the systems by 2021 in order to counter U.S. developments in its missile capabilities, according to Reuters.
The White House announced the decision to stop complying with the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty in a statement from Trump early Friday.
“For far too long, Russia has violated the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty with impunity, covertly developing and fielding a prohibited missile system that poses a direct threat to our allies and troops abroad,” Trump said.
The U.S. and others in the international community have accused Russia of violating the treaty, which prohibits nuclear and conventional ground-launched missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers from being deployed in Europe, since 2014.
