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US-RUSSIA-EU-POLITICS
EU urges US, Russia talks to “preserve” nuclear treaty
BRUSSELS, Oct 22, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – The European Commission on Monday urged
the United States and Russia to pursue talks to preserve a nuclear weapons
treaty after President Donald Trump said Washington was withdrawing from the
deal.
The Commission, the 28-nation European Union executive, stressed the
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) as a cornerstone of European
defence for the last three decades.
“The US and the Russian federation need to remain in a constructive
dialogue to preserve this treaty and ensure it is fully and verifiably
implemented,” spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic told reporters.
She said the treaty was important for both European and global security.
“The treaty for Intermediate-Range Forces in Europe contributed to the end
of the Cold War, to the end of the nuclear arms race and is one of the
cornerstones of European security architecture since it entered force 30
years ago,” she added.
“And thanks to this treaty almost 3,000 missiles with nuclear and
conventional warheads have been removed and verifiably destroyed,” Kocijancic
said.
“It is also an important contribution to disarmament obligations under the
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty,” she said.
The treaty banning intermediate-range nuclear and conventional missiles
was signed in 1987 by then US president Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev,
the last Soviet leader.
Gorbachev on Sunday said that “dropping these agreements… shows a lack
of wisdom” and was a “mistake”.
The Trump administration has complained of Moscow’s deployment of Novator
9M729 missiles, which Washington says fall under the treaty’s ban on missiles
that can travel distances of between 310 and 3,400 miles (500 and 5,500
kilometres).
When asked if the EU share its US ally’s position that Russia should be
blamed for the lapse of the treaty, Kocijancic renewed the call for dialogue.
“We of course expect the Russian federation to address the concerns
regarding its compliance with the treaty in a substantial and transparent
way,” she said.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1902 hrs