NATO will respond if Russia does not come back into compliance with the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Friday.
NATO SECRETARY TO RESPOND IF RUSSIAN’S PUTIN FAILS TO RETURN TO INF TREATY
“We will respond in the united way, coordinated, defensive and we have also stated that we are not planning, we do not have any intentions to deploy nuclear missiles in Europe. We will not mirror what Russia does,” Stoltenberg told reporters after NATO-Russia Council meeting in Brussels.
The meeting came after Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday signed a bill suspending the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty with the US, which announced its withdrawal from the treaty earlier this year.
On Feb. 2, the US began the process of withdrawing from the INF Treaty, which will be completed in six months unless Russia comes back into compliance by destroying all of its violating missiles, launchers, and associated equipment.
Stoltenberg said that the treaty can be saved if Russia returns to compliance and there are still four weeks to go before the deadline of Aug. 2. He added that the INF treaty is a “cornerstone” for security. “Our discussion was frank but necessary. Allies and Russia hold fundamentally different views but we are committed to continuing our dialogue,” Stoltenberg said.