U.S. says Russia violated treaty by testing cruise missile

On Monday, U.S. officials accused Russia of violating a 1987 nuclear missile treaty by testing ground-launched cruise missiles.

"This is a very serious matter which we have attempted to address with Russia for some time now," an Obama administration official told ABC News.

That Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty was signed by President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, and banned ground-launched cruise missiles able to fly 300 to 3,400 miles, The New York Times reports. U.S. officials say Russia started testing the missiles as early as 2008. On Tuesday, the State Department's annual compliance report on arms controls treaties will discuss the situation.

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According to The New York Times, the report will state, "The United States has determined that the Russian Federation is in violation of its obligations under the I.N.F. treaty not to possess, produce, or flight test a ground-launched cruise missile (GLCM) with a range capability of 500 kilometers to 5,500 kilometers or to possess or produce launchers of such missiles."

In a letter, President Obama wrote to Russian President Vladimir Putin that he wants to talk about the violation and keep the 1987 treaty intact.