Today the declaration on behalf of the EU by the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign and Security Policy, Federica #Mogherini, on the situation of the intermediate-range nuclear forces treaty (Inf).
"The European Union calls on all states to uphold the integrity of the rules-based international system with effective multilateralism as a key principle, indispensable for maintaining international peace and security, and is concerned that the international regime of disarmament and non-disarmament proliferation is subjected to strong tensions. For this, he encourages the United States and the Russian Federation to make further reductions in their arsenals and would welcome a timely and active dialogue on the future of the agreement. New Start post 2021.
Bearing in mind the serious and increasingly unstable security environment, the EU stresses the need to further preserve and promote general arms controls, disarmament and non-proliferation processes and calls for further progress on all aspects of disarmament and non-proliferation to improve global security. According to the Union, the feasibility and effectiveness of arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation agreements require these agreements to be fully respected and enforced".
"In this context, we underline the importance of the Intermediate Interval Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty which has contributed significantly to European security and wider international security over the past 30 years. Nearly XNUMX missiles with nuclear and conventional warheads have been removed from European soil and verifiably destroyed, making a tangible contribution by the two nuclear-armed states with the largest arsenals to the implementation of their disarmament obligations in '' scope of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)".
The EU is concerned about developments related to the INF treaty, which could end on 2 August 2019.
"We regret the formalization of Russia's suspension of its obligations under the Inf Treaty on 3 July 2019. We strongly urge the Russian Federation to effectively address the serious concerns it has expressed regarding the development, flight testing and use of its system ground missile 9M729 and the serious concerns raised regarding non-compliance with the Inf Treaty. In this regard, substantial and transparent action must be taken immediately to ensure full and verifiable compliance with the provisions of the Inf Treaty. The next few days represent the last opportunities for dialogue and the adoption of the necessary measures to preserve this important component of the European security architecture".