US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis reported that the US is consulting with European allies on the arms control treaty, while NATO members are urging Washington to try to bring Russia back into the pact rather than abandon it.
President Donald Trump said on October 20 that Washington would plan to abandon the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty that Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader, and Ronald Reagan had signed in 1987.
Washington accuses Moscow of alleged violations to justify abandonment. Russia denies the protests and accuses Washington of violating the pact and says it is working to respond to the US protests.
"We are consulting our European counterparts, I talked about it the day before with the German Defense Minister, and so I said that the consultations continue," Mattis told reporters traveling with him to Prague.
Mattis met with Czech officials and Prime Minister Andrej Babis, who warned that the cancellation of the treaty could mean a return to "cold war times".
"It's certainly bad news, we're sorry," Babis said at a joint press conference. "We must continue to communicate with Russia," said the leader of the Czech government.
Mattis also said that NATO ministers would meet in Brussels in December to discuss the matter ”.
European NATO members urged the United States Thursday to try to bring Russia back into the nuclear weapons control treaty rather than abandon it, diplomats say, trying to avoid a rift in the alliance that Moscow could exploit.
European allies see the INF treaty as a pillar of arms control and, while accepting that Moscow is violating it by developing new weapons, they fear that its collapse could lead to a new arms race. A new generation of US nuclear missiles are already stationed on the old continent.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow has begun preparing answers to questions related to the arms control pact delivered by US officials, according to the RIA news agency.
"Just a week ago, a couple of days before the announcement of the (US) purpose of abandoning the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces treaty, the Americans through their embassy in Moscow sent an extensive list of questions to the Russian Foreign Ministry. ”Lavrov said.
The Interfax news agency quoted Lavrov as reporting that his ministry sent the list to the defense ministry and other governmental bodies, but the fact that the answer must be given in a short time "does not contribute to the dialogue".
Last week, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Trump's plans to develop new ballistic missiles after abandoning the arms control pact were "extremely dangerous".
Mattis said he asked his NATO counterparts, after the last summit, to pitch some ideas to bring Russia back to the INF treaty, but so far no one has made any valid thought contributions ”.
Heather Conley, a former US State Department official now with the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said Mattis would receive a number of questions from European allies, specifically how and when it would be done. formal notification of applications to Russians.
"Trump only increases uncertainty: our allies don't know what the United States wants to do, what they will do from day to day," Conley said.