Rejects Russia's Allegation About Deployment Of Nuclear Missiles In Europe, NATO: They Are Violating The Prohibition

Secretary of NATO Jens Stoltenberg. (Wikimedia Commons)

JAKARTA - The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has no plans to deploy intermediate-range nuclear missiles in Europe, the Western military alliance said Tuesday, rejecting Russia's accusations and Moscow's calls for a moratorium on such weapons in Europe.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels that Russia itself had violated the INF treaty it had scrapped for years by deploying new intermediate-range nuclear missiles in Europe, adding NATO was not aiming to mirror Moscow's behavior.

"The proposal from Russia about a moratorium is not credible because we had a ban and they violated the ban," Stoltenberg said, citing Reuters December 15.

"So unless Russia in a verifiable way destroys all of its SSC-8 missiles, which are missiles in violation of the INF treaty, then it is not credible when they now propose a ban on something they have actually started using," he stressed.

Stoltenberg's remarks referred to the 1987 INF treaty between then-Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev and US President Ronald Reagan, which banned medium-range nuclear weapons, which have a range of 500 to 5,500 km (310 to 3,400 miles), in Europe.

Earlier, Russia said on Monday it may be forced to deploy intermediate-range nuclear missiles in Europe, in response to what it sees as a NATO plan to do the same.

The warning from Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov raises the risk of a new arms buildup on the Bitu continent, with East-West tensions at their worst since the Cold War ended three decades ago.

Ryabkov said Russia would be forced to act if the West refused to join it in its moratorium on medium-range nuclear powers (INF) in Europe, part of a package of security guarantees it seeks to defuse the crisis in Ukraine.

The lack of progress towards a political and diplomatic solution will see Russia respond by military means, with military technology, Ryabkov told Russia's RIA news agency.

"Meaning, this will be a confrontation, this will be the next round," he said, referring to the potential deployment of missiles by Russia.