Washington - Arab Today
Vice Chairman of the US Joints Chiefs of Staff General Paul Selva confirmed that Russia has deployed a land-based cruise missile.Selva told the US House of Representatives Armed Services Committee that the deployment of the missile violates the "spirit and intent" of an arms control treaty signed by the US and Russian.
"The system itself presents a risk to most of our facilities in Europe and we believe that the Russians have deliberately deployed it in order to pose a threat to NATO and to facilities within the NATO area of responsibility," Selva said.
He pointed out that the United States has raised the issue with Russia but he did not say what options were being considered if the discussions did not lead to results.
It was the first public confirmation from the US Army of the deployment after reports said last month that Russia had secretly deployed the SSC-8 cruise missile.
Moscow has been developing and testing this missile for several years, despite US complaints that it violated sections of the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces treaty.
Source: QNA