MOSCOW, August 16 (RIA Novosti) — Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel discussed the necessity of more meetings and open lines of communication on the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, according to the US Defense Department release.
«The two ministers discussed the need to have bilateral follow-on meetings of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. They also agreed to maintain open lines of communication," the release said.
Earlier on, the United States accused Russia of violating its obligations under the INF Treaty, which Moscow dismissed. The Russian government expressed its own complaints about US compliance with the treaty in light of Washington’s plans to deploy Mark 41 vertical launching systems in Poland and Romania.
The INF Treaty was signed back in 1987 by the United States and the Soviet Union to prevent the use of nuclear and conventional missiles with an intermediate range, defined as 500 to 5,000 kilometers (310 to 3,100 miles).
