US Considers Response To Russia's Nuclear Treaty Violations; Arctic Exercise Tests Cooperation

The United States is weighing a range of options to respond to the Russian government’s ongoing breach of the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty. Part of the response may be to send new weapons to Eastern Europe.

The outgoing vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has warned of Russia’s continued violation. Admiral James “Sandy” Winnefeld told the audience at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies that Moscow has violated the 1987 agreement, which bans both Russia and the U.S. from developing or deploying nuclear weapons. Bloomberg reports that the treaty was the first nuclear arms agreement to reduce the number of nuclear weapons.

Winnefeld revealed the Obama administration is currently considering sending both offensive and defensive reactions. Top officials continue to push for Russia to comply with the agreement. The admiral added that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry had raised the issue with Moscow “very recently.”

“The first solution to this problem is for Russia to stop doing this. That’s the most important thing,” said Winnefeld. He remarked there are options if the U.S. thinks Russia will not stop. The State Department admitted in July 2014 that Washington believes Russia has violated the nuclear arms treaty.

The State Department had sent a delegation, led by Undersecretary of State for Nonproliferation Rose Gottemoeller, to Russia last September to confront Moscow on the violations. However, the team returned without results.

Meanwhile, about 100 fighter jets from the U.S. and eight European countries have begun training exercises in the Nordic nations. The military exercise based in the north of Norway will test the cooperation among Arctic nations near Russia’s borders. Despite Moscow’s accusations that the exercises were meant to provoke Russia, NATO has insisted the drills were already planned before the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, reports Reuters.

“The aim is to exercise and train units in the orchestration and conduct of complex air operations, in close relations to NATO partners,” said Norwegian brigadier general Jan Ove Rygg in a statement. The exercises, which began on May 25, are expected to last until June 5.

NATO members involved in the exercise aside from the U.S. were Britain, France, Germany, Netherlands and Norway. Non-members Finland, Sweden and Switzerland also participated in the exercises, testing everything from shooting down targets in the air as well as mid-air refuelling.

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