Putin Says Russia's New Missiles Comply With INF Treaty

Russia's new missiles do not breach the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty; foreign partners could be concerned over the fact that Russia has sea-based and air-based missiles, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday.

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th December, 2018) Russia's new missiles do not breach the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty; foreign partners could be concerned over the fact that Russia has sea-based and air-based missiles, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday.

The United States is alleging that Russia is in breach of the treaty. Earlier in December, Washington said it would leave the treaty unless Russia came back in compliance with the agreement within 60 days.

"We have some other weapons ... the air-based Kh-101 missiles. In principle, they can be categorized as strategic arms, because Tu-160 is a supersonic bomber. But judging by the range of 4,500 [kilometers, or 2,800 miles], it is an intermediate-range missile.

Maybe this was of concern to our partners, but this is not a breach of the INF Treaty," Putin said at the extended meeting of the Defense Ministry board.

The president added that the United States might be worried over the fact that Russia has short-range and intermediate-range missiles, air-based and sea-based.

"The sea-based ones are well-known, they are Kalibr missiles that were used from the Caspian Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, where they worked very well, successfully, accurately, and as they should. Something had to be perfected, and their use against terrorists in Syria showed that it was right," Putin said.