MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th December, 2019) The United States plans to carry out test launches of two new medium-range missiles that were previously banned by the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty before the end of this year, Russian Strategic Missile Forces commander Col. Gen. Sergei Karakaev said on Sunday.
Last week, the United States successfully tested an INF-banned ground-based intermediate-range missile in California. According to the Defense Department, the missile flew for more than 310 miles before it was terminated over the ocean.
"Before the end of 2019, the United States plans to test two new intermediate-range land-based missiles: a cruise missile with a range of more than 1,000 kilometers [621 miles] and another one with a range of over 3,000 kilometers [1,864 miles]. In addition, strike drones can be classified as short and intermediate-range strike weapons. Moreover, no one today can provide guarantees that these complexes would not be equipped with nuclear weapons," Karakaev told the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper in an interview.
The INF Treaty, signed by the United States and the Soviet Union in 1987, was terminated on August 2, 2019, at the US' initiative, after it formally suspended its INF obligations six months earlier. Russia has repeatedly dismissed Washington's accusations of violating the agreement.
