RUSSIA WARNING: US starts build of new cruise missile after Cold War treaty COLLAPSE

RUSSIA WARNING: US starts build of new cruise missile after Cold War treaty COLLAPSE
The US has begun building parts of a new ground-launched cruise missile system after President Donald Trump withdrew from the Cold War treaty that banned them, the Pentagon has said.

Michelle Baldanza, Pentagon spokeswoman, said ”fabrication activities” had begun on parts for the weapon, the first since the 1980s when cruise missiles were deployed in Europe in a standoff against Soviet 22-20 missiles. The move comes after Russia deployed its controversial 9M729 cruise missile at more locations close to the borders of Europe. Alarm spread through Europe when Donald Trump announced he had abandoned the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.
Trump administration officials cited Russia’s noncompliance with the treaty as the reason for leaving the deal, in a move which threatens to undermine peace and stability between Russia and the US.

The President said the nuclear weapons accord, struck between the US and the Soviet Union in 1987, had been violated by Moscow because of the development of a new missile.
But Vladimir Putin’s Moscow maintained it was not in breach of the treaty.

Lieutenant Colonel Michelle Baldanza said: “We will commence fabrication activities on components to support developmental testing of these systems – activities that until February 2 would have been inconsistent with our obligations under the Treaty.

This research and development is designed to be reversible, should Russia return to full and verifiable compliance before we withdraw from the Treaty in August 2019.”

The Pentagon said the efforts would be conventional and not nuclear.

The United Nations has urged the US and Russia to preserve the INF Treaty, saying that losing it would make the world a more insecure and unstable place.

The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty prohibits the production or testing of ground-launched cruise missiles with a range of 300 to 3,400 miles.
Earlier today, Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu addressed the Russian State Duma, telling legislators how the country’s armed forces have improved since President Vladimir Putin’s election in 2012.