Russian Military Reaffirms Strict Adherence to INF Treaty RIA Novosti, PUBLISHED 05.08.2014 Chief of the Russian General Staff, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, said on Thursday that Russia is strictly implementing the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty with the United States. Gerasimov discussed the situation around the Soviet-era agreement in a phone call with US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey. “Gerasimov reaffirmed Russia’s adherence to strict implementation of the INF Treaty,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement. Washington has recently accused Moscow of violating its obligations under the treaty, but declined to provide any evidence. But now White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the United States has determined that Russia has violated provisions of the INF treaty. On Wednesday, the US administration released a report claiming that Russia “is in violation of its obligations under the INF Treaty not to possess, produce, or flight-test a ground-launched cruise missile (GLCM) with a range capability of 500 km to 5,500 km, or to possess or produce launchers of such missiles.” Josh Earnest said earlier US President Barack Obama conveyed his findings to Russian President Vladimir Putin in a letter, in addition to US previous attempts to raise the concern “with the Russians on a number of occasions through our standard diplomatic channels." The accusation prompted the Russian Foreign Ministry to dismiss the White House statement as “ungrounded,” citing the absence of evidence to support this claim. It also bashed Washington for its plan to deploy MK 41 VLS launching systems in Poland and Romania as part of the “phased adaptive approach” for missile defense. The INF is a 1987 agreement between the United States and the Soviet Union to eliminate the use of nuclear and conventional missiles with intermediate range, defined as 500 to 5,000 kilometers (310 to 3,100 miles). The pact has often been lauded as an example of successful arms control because it eliminated an entire class of nuclear weapons. Topics: Russia Other news: Ex-TEPCO Executives to Face Criminal Charges Over Fukushima Disaster The decision of the 11-member public panel concerns Tsunehisa Katsumata, chairman of TEPCO at the time of the disaster, and two former vice presidents – Sakae Muto and Ichiro Takekuro. Russian, Chinese Companies Sign Memorandum to Build Floating Nuclear Plants The memorandum was signed by Dzhomart Aliev and CNNC New Energy President Tianlin Qian. Construction of Brand New US Nuclear Plants Hampered AP agency reports on a number of quality and cost problems that now cast doubts about if the nuclear energy would ever dominate other electricity sources. |
Hero of the day The ISTC Responsible Science Program and Subprogram Culture of Nuclear Nonproliferation The dual-use nature of nuclear technology consisting in the potential for its application equally in peaceful and military sphere is the basic contradiction for the existing nuclear nonproliferation regime and comprehensive development of the nuclear power and nuclear fuel cycle. INTERVIEW
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Joint Plan of Action |