Stoltenberg: NATO is not going to deploy nuclear missiles in Europe
The North Atlantic Alliance does not plan to deploy new missiles with nuclear warheads in Europe, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told Interfax Ukraine.
“NATO is not going to deploy new missiles with nuclear warheads in Europe… But, as an alliance, we are committed to the safety of all member countries of NATO,” he said, commenting on the Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles (INF).
Stoltenberg noted that NATO member countries have constantly called on Russia to completely and transparently adhere to the INF. In addition, he reiterated that the United States fully complied with its obligations under the treaty.
He said that “Russia has been developing, producing, testing and deploying the new SSC-8 cruise missile over the past years. These missiles are fast and difficult to detect and they can carry a nuclear warhead, while the response time is limited to minutes.”
“The new Russian missiles pose a serious threat to the strategic stability of the Euro-Atlantic region,” the NATO Secretary General added.
Earlier, Stoltenberg said that Russia is violating the Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles and called on Russia to comply with it. At the same time, he said that he was for a dialogue with Russia and called on the West “not to be naïve”.