Facilities of the U.S. missile defense shield in Europe are unable to launch offensive-type missiles, and this has been explained to the Russian side, the Pentagon has said.

"The Aegis Ashore system is only capable of launching air and missile defense interceptor missiles, such as the SM-3, which are not missiles subject to the INF Treaty [treaty banning intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles]," U.S. Department of Defense spokesperson Linda Rojas told Interfax.

According to her, "the system is not capable of launching any offensive type missile such as the Tomahawk cruise missile."

"Therefore, it is fully consistent with U.S. obligations under the INF Treaty," Rojas said.

"We have explained this to the Russian Federation," he added.