Russia, China Ask UN Security Council to Meet Over US Missile Developments

Russia and China have called for a UN Security Council meeting on Thursday related to statements by US officials on their plans to develop and deploy medium-range nuclear-capable missiles across the world. The US withdrew from the Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty that forbade this earlier in August.

Russian and Chinese officials are seeking a briefing from the UN disarmament affairs chief, and both say they believe the US rush for such weapons is a threat to international peace and security.

Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed particular concern that the US was in position to deploy such missiles in Romania and Poland. He added Russia would consider those a threat to Moscow, and would respond if they needed to.

US officials hadn’t confirmed any plans to deploy in Europe, though Putin said such deployments could happen without even telling Romania and Poland about it. US officials have, however, expressed interest in having such missiles in Asia.

So far it’s not clear what nations in Asia would be willing hosts for such missiles, but intermediate missiles in Asia could potentially target either Russia or China. North Korea has also expressed concerns about the US missiles being deployed, particularly on the Korean Peninsula, where it would potentially be a step backwards in efforts to denuclearize the peninsula.