The US’s envoy to NATO, Kay Bailey Hutchison, told reporters that Russia’s land-based, nuclear-capable Novator 9M729 missile system was a violation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty signed by the US and Soviet Union in 1987.
Ambassador Hutchison demanded Moscow comply with the Cold War-era treaty or risk major escalation.
The Ambassador’s comments came one day before US Secretary of Defence, James Mattis, was set to meet with NATO leaders in Belgium.
Mrs Hutchison stated that if the missile systems “became capable of delivering,” then the US “would then be looking at the capability to take out a missile that could hit any of our countries in Europe and hit America”.
The US has been accusing Russia of violating the 1987 agreement since 2014.
The treaty bans the production of all land-based nuclear and conventional missiles with ranges of 500 to 5,500 kilometres.
In November, US National Security Council officer Christopher Ford revealed that Russia’s new missile system was the source of the US’ noncompliance complaints against Russia.
Then, in December, Undersecretary for Political Affairs, Thomas Shannon, told Russian newspaper Kommersant: “Russia continues to produce and field a missile system that violates the INF Treaty.”
Mr Shannon added: “While we continue to seek a diplomatic solution to Russia’s violation, the United States is also beginning to study military options for a ground-launched intermediate-range system to ensure, should Russia not return to compliance and should the INF Treaty collapse as a result of Russia’s violation, that the United States will be able to defend itself and US allies, and deny Russia the military advantage it has sought with the development of prohibited missiles.”
The tensions between the US and Russia are growing so extensive that the former Soviet Leader who signed the agreement, Mikhail Gorbachev, has previously warned Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin that they need to solve the issue before another arms race begins.
Russia continues to deny any violations of the INF Treaty and accuses the US of violating the agreement by deploying missile systems throughout Europe.
Russia’s new 9M729 missile system is shrouded in mystery but is believed to use the same launcher as the Iskander missile system Russia has increasingly deployed across its western border.
In the neighbouring Baltic countries, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, NATO has established multinational battle groups meant to bolster fences against perceived Russian aggression.
After Russia seized the Crimean Peninsula in 2014, NATO has adopted a tougher stance against Russia leading to a boost in defences on both sides.
Trump has continually criticised NATO, calling on the leaders to contribute more money to the organisation.
Secretary Mattis is set to attend the final NATO defence ministers’ conference of 2018 on October 3 and 4 to discuss “the need for equitable burden sharing, discuss implementation plans for key NATO summit outcomes, and reinforce the U.S. commitment to the alliance”.