Russia accuses U.S. of "grave violations" of nuclear treaty

Russia on Thursday accused the United States of "periodical grave massive" violations of the terms of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.

"Our U.S. partners feel themselves free to interpret their obligations under the INF, and commit flagrant and massive violations of the treaty," Mikhail Ulyanov, head of the Foreign Ministry's security and disarmament department, said in an online statement.

The ministry said in August that Washington intended to deploy MK-41 launch systems that can be used for launching intermediate-range cruise missiles in Poland and Romania.

Apart from that, Ulyanov added that the U.S. used the rocket-propelled weapons during tests of its anti-missile defense system and put the first-strike unmanned flying vehicles into service.

He urged the U.S. to start a dialogue with Russia over such plans and return to the complete implementation of the treaty.

The INF Treaty, signed in 1987, bars signatories from possessing, producing or flight-testing cruise missiles with a range of 500-5,500 km.

The U.S. warned in July that Russia was violating the treaty by testing a new cruise missile, while Moscow denied the allegation and called it "another attempt to discredit Russia."

In September, Russia said it would continue talks with the U.S. over the future of the treaty, promising not to unilaterally quit it. Enditem