US official: Allegations of nuclear warheads at Romania missile defense site ‘nonsense’

The United States is not seeking to outfit the missiles at the Romanian ballistic missile defense site with nuclear warheads, US Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Brian McKeon told the House Armed Services Committee, sputniknews.com reports.

Moscow has repeatedly raised concerns over the European ballistic missile defense (BMD) systems placed in Romania and Poland, arguing the systems are directed against Russia and its strategic deterrent. Russia has also alleged that the missile systems violate the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, which prohibits ground-launched missiles with a range of 300 to 3,400 miles.

McKeon dismissed Russian objections saying they are “statements that we don’t agree with and find unacceptable.”

“In the last couple of days, there was an assertion made by some senior Russian security official that we were going to put nuclear warheads on missiles at the site in Romania and threaten Russia, which is just nonsense,” McKeon said on Thursday, without citing specific officials.

In 2016, the Romanian BMD site will be fully operational, according to US defense officials. The site in Poland is expected to be complete by 2018. US officials claim the system is intended to target ballistic missiles originating from Iran or North Korea.