US slams Russia over missile treaty

The US on Wednesday accused Russia of dishonesty and evasiveness over a controversial missile system the West says breaches a key arms control treaty.

US Under Secretary of State Andrea Thompson said talks in Geneva aimed at saving the Cold War era Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty (INF) did not “break new ground” and there was no sign Russia would come back into compliance with the accord.

The 1987 treaty, seen as a key prop of international arms control, is in danger of collapse, with the US vowing to pull out unless Russia takes steps to dismantle a new nuclear-capable cruise missile system that Washington and NATO says violates the accord.

Russian offers of inspections of the nuclear-capable 9M729 cruise missile system were totally inadequate, Thompson said, adding that the Kremlin had demanded to be allowed to inspect US systems in return.

“Disappointingly but unsurprisingly we weren’t able to break any new ground” in the Geneva talks, Thompson told reporters after briefing NATO allies in Brussels.

“They paid lip service to transparency… they continued to dodge questions, they continue to offer false information regarding the missile’s capabilities and the testing activity.”

The US has given Russia until February 2 to take steps to come back into compliance, but Thompson said there was no indication they would do so.

Russia denies it is in breach of the treaty and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said his side had come up with “constructive proposals” in Geneva.

Thompson said the Russian suggestions — including a “static display” of the missiles — would not have shown whether or not the missiles breached the treaty.

“The issue at hand is the range of the system, so a static display of the system doesn’t tell me how far that missile can fly,” she said.

Thompson said the US wanted to see the missile in testing and not an environment where the Russian military could “control the results”.

The US and NATO say the system, also known by the designation SSC-8, violates the INF treaty, which banned ground-launched missiles with a range of 500 to 5,500 kilometres.

NATO says the missiles are mobile and hard to detect and can hit cities in Europe with little or no warning, dramatically changing the security calculus on the continent.

Washington has raised concerns about the missile system with the Russians at least 30 times over the past five years, according to officials.

The US has also published extensive details of evidence it has shown Moscow to prove the missiles breach the treaty.