Closing Ranks:NATO Responds as Russia Violates Treaty

At the end of a NATO Foreign Ministerial in Brussels,Belgium that was attended by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo,on 4 December 2018,NATO Allies certified that Russia is in a substantive breach of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.According to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg:
All Allies have concluded that Russia has developed and fielded a new ground-launched cruise missile system-the SSC-8,also known as the 9M729.Allies agree that the missile system violates the INF Treaty and poses significant security risks to Euro-Atlantic security.And they agree that Russia is therefore in material breach of its obligations under the INF Treaty.*
This is really serious,because,of course,all missiles are dangerous,but these missiles are particularly dangerous because they are hard to detect;they are mobile;they are nuclear capable.*
Despite the US and others raising the matter with Russia over 30 times,Russia has continued to develop and deploy the forbidden missiles,eroding effective arms control and undernining the security of the NATO Allies.*
Mr.Stoltenberg continued:
This is part of Russia's pattern of behaviour,intended to weaken the overall Euro-Atlantic security architecture.There are no new US missiles in Europe;but there are new Russian missiles in Europe.*
In conclusion,Mr.Stoltenberg warned:
Russia now has a last chance to come back into compliance with the INF Treaty,but we must also start to prepare for a world without the treaty.*
The US has given Russia 60 days to come back into compliance with the INF Treaty.*
Analysis:NATO has to be very watchful as it is not sure what the Putin regime will do next in Ukraine;perhaps Russia will take covert actions that will be used to justify another land grab.NATO finds itself in a position that approaches the danger at the height of the Cold War-at the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis,for example.A conflict with Russia and/or China could necessitate a reinstatement of conscription in the US.It could mean a war of the order not seen since Vietnam-or even Korea.*
The Chief of Staff US Army,GEN Mark Milley,has been nominated by US President Donald Trump to be the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,the senior commander in the US military.GEN Milley has said of Putin's Russia that:
I see Russia as aggressive,not just assertive.They attacked Georgia (in 2008);they illegally seized Crimea (2014);they have attacked Ukraine (2014-present)...all those countries were free and independent and have been sovereign nations now for a quarter of a century,since the fall of the Berlin Wall.I would say,Russia's recent behaviour is adversarial to the interests of the United States.