MOSCOW. Aug 23 (Interfax) - The test of a ground-launched cruise missile conducted by the United States on August 18 proves that Russia had justly accused the United States of violating the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, President Vladimir Putin said in a statement at the Friday meeting with permanent members of the Russian Security Council.
"Such weapons belong to the category outlawed by the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty of 1987. Besides, the use of an MK41 universal vertical launcher during the tests fully justifies the claims made by Russia against the United States when the treaty was still in effect," Putin said in the statement, which was posted on the Kremlin website.
"We have repeatedly noted that the deployment of such U.S. launchers on the ground, at the missile defense base in Romania, and the pending deployment in Poland, was a direct, significant, and flagrant violation of the INF Treaty," Putin said.
"The Americans kept denying it and claimed that ground-based MK41 launchers were allegedly incapable of firing Tomahawk sea-launched cruise missiles. The violation is obvious now, it cannot be disputed, as they have said so themselves," Putin said.