Russia has the last chance to return to a missile treaty

Jens Stoltenberg / photo by UNIAN

NATO has "many possibilities" to answer if Russia continues to violate the terms of the Missile Elimination Treaty intermediate range and long range (DRSMD).

This is the Secretary-General. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in an interview with the press agency dpa on Friday, Jan. 4, says DW.

"Russia has the last chance," said Stoltenberg, adding that if Russia does not comply with DRSMD conditions, then "there are many possible ways for NATO to respond" .

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Recall that in October, US President Donald Trump said Washington would leave the DRSMD, one of the most important treaties between the US and the USSR asi of the Cold War. According to Trump, Russia is not respecting the agreement to develop a ground cruise missile 9M729 (also called SSC-8) for the Iskander complex.

The United States believes that, to save the Treaty on the elimination of intermediate-range missiles, Russia must get rid of 9M729 cruise missiles, or modify them so that they do not exceed the authorized scope according to the requirements of the agreement. Russia, in turn, rejects critics and demands of the United States.

The Mid-Range Missile-Elimination Treaty was signed in 1987 by the Secretary General of the CPSU Central Committee, Mikhail Gorbachev, and US President Ronald Reagan. The agreement prohibited the parties from manufacturing ballistic and cruise missiles with a range of 500 to 5,500 km, as well as testing and deploying them.