The vice chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff confirmed Wednesday that Russia has deployed a land-based cruise missile in violation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, and that the Pentagon’s upcoming Nuclear Posture Review will cover options for a U.S. response.
Air Force Gen. Paul Selva said at a House Armed Services Committee hearing Wednesday that the Russians “do not intend to return to compliance [with the INF], absent some pressure from the international community and the United States as a co-signer of the same agreement.”
The treaty prohibits the fielding of ground-based cruise and ballistic missiles with flight ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers. U.S. officials reportedly claimed last month that Russia has deployed this type of nuclear-capable cruise missile.
President Donald Trump has ordered the development of a new Nuclear Posture Review to set the nation’s nuclear policy for the next five to 10 years. This review will address the administration’s potential responses to Russia’s INF Treaty violation, according to Selva:“We’ve been asked to incorporate a set of options into the Nuclear Posture Review.”
Highlighting the threat the treaty violation poses to NATO, Selva added that “our intent is to factor that into the NPR and look for leverage points to attempt to get the Russians to come back into compliance.”
Selva was one of several witnesses to express support for the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which requires that the U.S. and Russia by next February each cap their deployed strategic nuclear warheads at 1,550 and long-range delivery systems at 700.
“We’re not entering an arms race [with Russia] because we bilaterally have a verifiable inspection regime for the weapons that are deployed, we have capped the number of weapons that are available,” Selva said of New START.
