NATO holds Russia responsible for US decision to withdraw form INF Treaty

Brussels, Oct 22: The North Atlantic Treaty Organization,NATO has laid responsibility on Russia for the US decision to withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear
Forces Treaty (INF Treaty), noting that Moscow ‘highly likely’ violates this agreement, NATO Spokesperson Oana Lungescu said on Sunday.
“NATO Allies have repeatedly raised their concerns about Russia’s lack of respect for its international commitments, including for the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty,
which was concluded in 1987 between the United States and the Soviet Union, TASS repoted.
At the NATO Summit in July [in Brussels], Allies stressed that the United States is in compliance with its obligations under the INF Treaty, while a pattern of behavior over many
years has led to widespread doubts about Russian compliance,” Lungescu said.
The spokesperson also recalled that in its statement after the Brussels summit, NATO voiced concerns over Russia’s 9M729 missile system, the agency said
“After years of denials and obfuscation, Russia recently acknowledged the existence of the missile system without providing the necessary transparency and explanation. In the
absence of any credible answer from Russia on this new missile, Allies believe that the most plausible assessment would be that Russia is in violation of the INF Treaty,” she said.
The alliance continues consultations on this issue, which was discussed at the NATO defense ministers’ meeting in October. The sides noted there that “allies have made efforts
over many years to engage Russia on this issue, in bilateral and multilateral formats.”
Since 2014, NATO has halted its political dialogue with Russia and the NATO-Russia Council, which used to meet once or twice per month, has held fewer than 10 meetings over
the past four years.
On Saturday, US President Donald Trump said that Washington would withdraw from the INF Treaty because Russia was violating the terms of the agreement.
At the same time, he did not rule out signing a new agreement on intermediate-range nuclear forces with Moscow and Beijing if Russia and China provide guarantees of halting the production of such weapons, TASS said. (UNI)