Obama fails to confront Russia on ‘material breach’ of INF Treaty

Special to WorldTribune.com

Bill Gertz, Inside the Ring, Washington Times

Russia’s recent missile developments represent a “material breach” of its obligations under the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, a senior House Republican said Wednesday.

Russian army Iskander missile launcher  /Sergey Ponomarev  AP
Russian Iskander missile launcher /Sergey Ponomarev/AP

There is no doubt — and I mean no doubt — that Russia’s actions transcend mere violations and constitute a material breach of this central arms control treaty,” Rep. Mike Rogers, Alabama Republican and chairman of the House Armed Services subcommittee on strategic forces, said at a Capitol Hill defense breakfast. …

U.S. officials said the main INF violation has been multiple tests since 2008 of a new cruise missile identified as the R-500, which has a range of about 1,243 miles. Another violation was the testing of the SS-27 Mod 2 intercontinental range ballistic missile to ranges banned by the INF treaty. …

“Depending on your calendar, we are two months or six years past when the president should have declared Russia to have broken the INF Treaty,” Mr. Rogers said. “Yet we’ve heard nothing from the president on this. We’ve heard nothing from the secretary of state [John F. Kerry], and he promised bold action in December 2012 before he was confirmed as secretary of state. We’ve heard nothing from him at all.”

Mr. Rogers said the political message sent by the administration to Moscow by failing to press for INF compliance is that the United States will not confront Russia on the violations and other belligerent behavior.

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