WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th August, 2018) The United States may seek to deploy more missile defense systems in Europe, the 2019 National Defense Appropriations Act (NDAA) revealed.
Earlier in the day the NDAA, which authorizes $716 billion of defense spending for 2019, was signed into law by President Donald Trump during a ceremony at Fort Drum in New York.
"The United States should take actions to encourage the Russian Federation to return to compliance with the INF Treaty, including by� seeking additional missile defense assets in the European theater," the legislation said.
The assets are needed to fill military capability gaps to protect United States and NATO forces from Russian ground-launched missile systems that are in noncompliance with the INF Treaty, the document said.
In July, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told the Italian newspaper Il Giornale that the United States has violated the INF Treaty by deploying in Europe missile defense systems whose launchers might be used for firing Tomahawk cruise missiles at the European part of Russia's territory.
