The Pentagon on Thursday (12 December) tested a conventionally configured ground-launched ballistic missile, a test that would have been prohibited under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.

The United States formally withdrew from the landmark 1987 INF pact with Russia in August after determining that Moscow was violating the treaty, an accusation the Kremlin has denied.

It was the second test by the Pentagon that would have not been allowed under the INF treaty.

The treaty, negotiated by then-US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, banned land-based missiles with a range of between 310 and 3,400 miles (500 to 5,500 km).

The Pentagon said in a statement that the test took place from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California and the missile flew for more than 500 km.

Read more: euractiv