US and Russia have been engaged in a rivalry since 2014 following the latter's move on Ukrainian soil. Tension appears to rise even more as Washington calls out Moscow about its cruise missiles. According to The Guardian, the widening rift is also due to the bolder appearances of nuclear-capable Russian submarines. This threatens authority over arms control and other international barriers. If Russia continues with its bolder military activities then the world's two leading nuclear arsenals may be engaged in a dangerous war.
According to the US, Russia's new cruise missile investment breaches one of the primary arms control treaties under the cold war. This also raises concerns whether Moscow plans on deploying its cruise missiles in Europe following its absence for 23 years.
Briam McKeon from the Pentagon notes: "We have a broad range of options, some of which would be compliant with the INF treaty, some of which would not be, that we would be able to recommend to our leadership if it decided to go down that path."
He also adds: "We don't have ground-launched cruise missiles in Europe now, obviously, because they are prohibited by the treaty but that would obviously be one option to explore."
Report from the National Interest Organization also supports this as it discusses Russia's revised military doctrine. This is the first time the country has changed its doctrine since 2010. More alarmingly, the new doctrine will permit Russia to send precision conventional weapons under the premise of "strategic deterrent measures." The move will be against NATO which the country sees as a primary threat.
The document also further stipulates: "the expansion of NATO's military infrastructure to the Russian borders" threatens Russian security considerably. This is alarming for some as Russia can use the doctrine to allow deployment of tactical nuclear weapons if under conventional attack. More importantly, it can use the nuclear weapons given the assault "threatens the very existence" of the country.
As if determined to show the world what it can do and will be doing, Russia has also displayed its military capability in the recent crash of one of AirAsia's planes. According to Bloomberg, Vladimir Putin sent two aircrafts along with 22 deep water divers last January 2 to help in the search. This was done following request by the Indonesian government. It was a different case when Malaysian Airline System Bhd. Flight 370 went missing and Russia was nowhere during the search efforts.
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