MOSCOW. Aug 23 (Interfax) - The test of a U.S. ground-launched cruise missile banned by the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which happened 16 days after the United States withdrew from that treaty, was thoroughly planned, President Vladimir Putin said in a statement of the Russian Security Council's meeting on Friday.
"A missile with characteristics banned by this treaty was tested only 16 days after the treaty's cancellation procedure initiated by Washington came to an end. Obviously, it was not an improvisation, but another link in the chain of events, which were planned a long time ago," Putin said in the statement posted on the Kremlin website.