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Putin orders 'symmetric' measures after U.S. missile test

 
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Aug. 22, 2019. (Associated Press)
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Aug. 22, 2019. (Associated Press)
Published Aug. 23, 2019

MOSCOW — President Vladimir Putin has ordered the Russian military to find a quid pro quo response after the test of a new U.S. missile banned under a now-defunct arms treaty.

In Sunday's test, a modified ground-launched version of a Navy Tomahawk cruise missile accurately struck its target more than 310 miles away. The test came after the U.S. and Russia withdrew from the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.

The U.S. has explained its withdrawal from the treaty by Russian violations, a claim Moscow has denied. Speaking Friday, Putin charged that the U.S. wanted to "untie its hands to deploy the previously banned missiles in different parts of the world."

He ordered the Defense Ministry and other agencies to "take the necessary measures to prepare a symmetrical answer."