BRUSSELS, February 5. /TASS/. Defense ministers from NATO member states will start their upcoming meeting in Brussels by discussing the consequences of the US move to suspend its obligations under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty), a NATO official told TASS on Tuesday.
"The agenda of the NATO Defense Ministers’ Meeting will be published in due course via media advisory. I can tell you that the Ministerial will begin with a session focused on the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. Allies will have an opportunity to exchange views and provide guidance on the implications of Russia’s breach of the INF Treaty. All Allies agree that Russia’s violation of the treaty erodes the foundation of arms control and undermines Allied security," the official said.
On February 1, US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Michael Pompeo announced the suspension of Washington’s obligations under the INF Treaty starting February 2. Washington is determined to withdraw from the Treaty in six months unless Russia returns to "real and verifiable" compliance. On February 2, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Moscow was also suspending the Treaty. He handed down instructions to refrain from initiating talks with Washington on the issue and stressed that the US needed to show readiness for an equal and substantive dialogue.
NATO defense ministers will now have to translate Washington’s political decision into reality as they are expected to start discussing plans to deploy US cruise missiles to Europe for the first time since the 1980s.
