Mattis: US to Respond to ‘Blatant’ Russia Violation of Arms Treaty

Says US is 'reviewing options' to respond diplomatically or militarily

Just days after US Ambassador Kay Bailey Hutchison threatened to start a war against Russia by preemptively destroying a certain type of Russian missiles over a perceived violation of the Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty, Defense Secretary James Mattis is continuing the saber-rattling.

Mattis claimed Russia is “in blatant violation” of INF, and that the US will not allow the “cavalier disregard” to continue. He says the US is reviewing a series of potential diplomatic and military options to be taken about it, and that not taking action is “untenable.”

Unlike Hutchison, whose comments gave the impression that a major war was imminent, Mattis was very cautious about not providing any specifics, saying he would not get into details about what sort of response the US would be likely to take.

The INF treaty issue has been ongoing for years, with the US objecting to a certain Russian test. Russia insists the missiles in no way violate INF, and there appears to have been little attempt to discuss the matter at all between the two countries, with the US just claiming violations in increasingly desperate terms, and threatening to take what would seem to be very reckless actions in response.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.