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No plans to deploy mid-range nuclear missiles in Europe: NATO Sec Gen

NATO is not planning to deploy intermediate-range nuclear missiles in Europe, the Alliance’s Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday, rejecting Russian accusations and a call by Moscow for a moratorium on nuclear weapons in Europe.

He told reporters in Brussels that Russia itself had violated the INF treaty for years by deploying new intermediate range nuclear capable missiles in Europe, adding that NATO did not aim to mirror Moscow’s behaviour.

“The proposal from Russia on a moratorium is not credible because we had a ban and they violated that ban,” Secretary Stoltenberg said.

“So unless Russia in a verifiable way destroys all its SSC-8 missiles, which are those missiles that violated the INF treaty, then it is not credible when they now propose a ban on something they have actually already started to deploy,” he added.

Mr Stoltenberg was referring to the 1987 INF (Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces) treaty between then-Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and US President Ronald Reagan, which banned intermediate-range nuclear weapons – those with a range of 500 to 5,500 km (310 to 3,400 miles) – in Europe.

On Tuesday, Russia’s deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov threatened to deploy medium-range nuclear missiles in Europe if the West refused to join the moratorium on nuclear weapons on the continent.

Tensions between Russia and NATO states grew when the former started gathering large forces in the vicinity of Ukraine’s eastern border.

Moscow stated that the US was trying to drag Ukraine into NATO’s sphere of influence and warned that any attempts to deploy the Alliance’s forces or nuclear missiles would be met by “firm steps” from the Kremlin.

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