NATO says Russia is in breach of a key Cold War-era nuclear treaty, and the Western military alliance is urging Moscow to come back into compliance during the six months that remain before the United States abandons the pact.
The U.S. says it will suspend its obligations to the treaty on Saturday, and that if Russia doesn’t come into compliance, the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty “will terminate.”
Minutes after the U.S. announcement, NATO nations urged “Russia to use the remaining six months to return to full and verifiable compliance to preserve the INF Treaty.”
NATO members say the military alliance will continue to review the security implications of Russian missile development. They say NATO will take any “steps necessary to ensure the credibility and effectiveness of the Alliance’s overall deterrence and defense posture.”
NATO says that if Moscow fails to destroy all new missile systems that Washington insists violate the treaty, “Russia will bear sole responsibility for the end of the treaty.”
AP Photo/Andrew Harnik
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