Pentagon Chief says he favors placing missiles in Asia

The American Defense secretary, Mark Esper, said that he was in favor of placing ground-launched, intermediate-range missiles in Asia relatively soon, a day after the United States withdrew from a landmark arms control treaty, Report informs citing the Reuter.

“Yeah, I would like to,” Esper said, when asked whether he was considering placing such missiles in Asia.

“I would prefer months ... but these things tend to take longer than you expect,” he told reporters.

Notably, the Russian Foreign Ministry officially announced the formal termination of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty at the initiative of the U.S. side on August 2.