In a letter from President Obama to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, the United States has alleged Russian violation of the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), the New York Times reports.
According to senior administration officials, the American Embassy delivered the president’s letter on Monday, which concluded that Russia had tested a ground-launched cruise missile in direct contravention of the treaty, which "bans American and Russian ground-launched ballistic or cruise missiles capable of flying 300 to 3,400 miles."
Republican lawmakers have criticized the tepid administration reaction to the breach, which has long been known to officials. As the New York Times explained:
Russia first began testing the cruise missiles as early as 2008, according to American officials, and the Obama administration concluded by the end of 2011 that they were a compliance concern. In May 2013, Rose Gottemoeller, the State Department's senior arms control official, first raised the possibility of a violation with Russian officials.
The Obama administration has declined to specify potential responses for the violation. Citing administration sources, the New York Times reported that the crisis in Ukraine had "pushed the issue to the back burner" and that Ms. Gottemoeller had not raised the issue with Russian officials since February. Secretary John Kerry raised the issue with his counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, for the first time in a Sunday telephone call.