Post-Soviet security bloc CSTO slams US for undermining key missile treaty

The Pentagon’s programs pose “a growing threat” to the 1987 INF Treaty, which bans short and intermediate-range missiles and their launchers, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) said in a joint statement on Monday. The bloc, comprised of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, voiced concern over US deploying and developing “target missiles and combat drones”, as well as “multi-purpose ground-based missile launchers” whose range may exceed the limits set up by the treaty. Earlier the Russian Defense Ministry said that Pentagon’s testing of the ‘Hera’ target missiles and deploying missile-launching systems, similar to Mk 41, in Europe violates the INF Treaty.