Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Statement on the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 5 February (HL Deb, cols 1495–9), what assessment they have made of whether (1) Germany, (2) Hungary, (3) Poland, (4) Bulgaria, (5) Slovakia, and (6) the Czech Republic have destroyed or dismantled any INF Treaty missiles they hold; and if so, whether they are concerned by those countries' actions in that regard.

Only the US, Russia and a small number of other Soviet successor states are bound by the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. The Treaty initially eliminated all of their intermediate-range (500km-5,500km) ground-launched cruise and ballistic missiles. By 1991, all US and Soviet Union missiles covered by the Treaty had been eliminated.

All NATO Allies support the finding of the US that Russia is now in material breach of the Treaty, citing its covert testing, production and fielding of 9M729 ground-launched cruise missile systems. We are working closely with Allies to review the security implications of Russian intermediate-range missiles and will continue to take the necessary steps to ensure the credibility and effectiveness of the Alliance's overall deterrence and defence posture.