China Vows to Counter U.S. Deployment of Midrange Arms in Asia
Christopher Bodeen | AP
China said Tuesday that it “will not stand idly by” and will take countermeasures if the U.S. deploys intermediate-range missiles in the Asia-Pacific region, which Washington has said it plans to do within months. The statement from the director of the foreign ministry’s Arms Control Department, Fu Cong, follows the U.S.’s withdrawal last week from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, a move Fu said would have a “direct negative impact on the global strategic stability” as well as security in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said in Asia over the weekend that he wanted to deploy midrange conventional missiles in the Asia-Pacific within months. Australian officials said Monday that the locations for the bases were not yet known but their country would not be one of them.
Russia Will Develop New Nuclear Missiles If You Do, Putin Tells U.S.
RFE/RL
President Vladimir Putin says Russia would respond in kind if the United States develops short- and intermediate-range, land-based nuclear missiles following the demise of a key Cold War-era arms control treaty. "If Russia obtains reliable information whereby the United States completes the development of these systems and starts to produce them, Russia will have no option other than to engage in a full-scale effort to develop similar missiles," Putin said in a statement on August 5. Putin’s remarks came after the United States on August 2 formally withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty that was signed by U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1987. The United States and NATO have accused Russia of violating the pact by deploying the 9M729 missile, also known as the SSC-8.
Iran Says it Will Further Breach Nuclear Deal in One Month Unless Europeans Act
Babak Dehghanpisheh | Reuters
Iran told European powers on Monday it would further reduce compliance with its 2015 nuclear deal in about a month’s time if they were still failing to protect it from crippling U.S. sanctions, reimposed after Washington exited the deal. “With the continuation of the inaction of the Europeans in carrying out their commitments (to the nuclear deal) ... Iran will take a third step (in reducing commitments) in approximately one month,” said Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran. He did not specify what Iran’s next step would be, but Tehran warned last month it could reactivate centrifuge machines and ramp up enrichment of uranium to 20% fissile purity.
North Korea Fires More Missiles as South Begins Joint Drill with U.S.
BBC
North Korea has fired two unidentified missiles, its fourth such launch in less than two weeks, South Korea's military has said. They were fired from South Hwanghae province across the peninsula into the sea to the east, a statement said. The North again expressed anger at US-South Korean military drills that began on Monday. It says they violate agreements reached with US President Donald Trump and South Korea's President Moon Jae-in. While the main drills will start on 11 August, low-key preparation has begun. The US said it was monitoring the situation and consulting with South Korea and Japan.
North Korea Took $2 Billion in Cyberattacks to Fund Weapons Program: UN Report
Michelle Nicholas | Reuters
North Korea has generated an estimated $2 billion for its weapons of mass destruction programs using “widespread and increasingly sophisticated” cyberattacks to steal from banks and cryptocurrency exchanges, according to a confidential U.N. report seen by Reuters on Monday. The experts said North Korea “used cyberspace to launch increasingly sophisticated attacks to steal funds from financial institutions and cryptocurrency exchanges to generate income.” They also used cyberspace to launder the stolen money, the report said. “Democratic People’s Republic of Korea cyber actors, many operating under the direction of the Reconnaissance General Bureau, raise money for its WMD (weapons of mass destruction) programmes, with total proceeds to date estimated at up to two billion US dollars,” the report said.
The End of the INF Treaty: What Does It Mean For Europe?
Ulrich Kühn | ZOiS Spotlight
On 2 August 2019, a key chapter in European security draws to a close when the US and, soon afterwards, Russia withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty after more than three decades of successful nuclear disarmament. The demise of the INF Treaty will lead to a massive loss of military transparency and predictability and potentially trigger a new arms race, focused mainly on Eastern Europe.