NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday that U.S. missile defence systems did not violate the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF).
Stoltenberg's comments were after Russia's Ministry of Defence said last Thursday that the United States should destroy its MK-41 missile defence launch systems deployed in Romania in order to return to compliance with the Cold War-era nuclear pact.
Russia suspended the INF treaty earlier this month after Washington announced it would withdraw in six months unless Russia ended what it says were violations of the pact. Moscow denies flouting the treaty.
Speaking at a news conference on the eve of a meeting of the alliance's defence ministers, Stoltenberg said the INF was in "real danger".
NATO allies want Russia to destroy its 9M729 nuclear-capable cruise missile system, which Washington says could allow Russia to strike Europe at short notice, and comply with the INF, while Russia has claimed that the U.S. violates the treaty with the presence of a ballistic missile defence system in Romania and Poland.
After calls by both French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel to move towards a European Union military, Stoltenberg said NATO would welcome it, but warned that it could not replace the U.S.-led military alliance NATO.
He added that while EU-NATO cooperation was important and that there was considerable overlap in member states, 80% of NATO defence spending would be from non-EU allies after Britain left the EU.
Autor: gf / Źródło: TVN24 News in English, Reuters
Źródło zdjęcia głównego: Shutterstock