NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg continued to slam Russia today
for violation of the Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, saying
there is no sign that Russia is making any effort to come into compliance after both the US and Russia confirmed withdrawing from the deal.
The US withdrew from the treaty months ago, and Russia confirmed a
similar withdrawal this week, citing the US pullout. Stoltenberg vowed
that the alliance will “respond” against Russia over the treaty, but did not say what they’d actually do.
The assumption from Russia is almost certainly that the response will be
NATO positioning nuclear missiles in Eastern Europe, near the Russian
border. Since the US withdrew, it has been speculated by Russia that
this was the end-game for the whole INF pullout.
Indeed, Russia has insisted they were never violating the INF in the
first place. The US just continued to insist Russia was violating it
irrespective of evidence. Now, with both sides out of the deal, it
really doesn’t matter, but they keep reiterating the allegations to
justify new measures against Russia.
NATO Chief Vows Response to Russia Over INF Treaty
Sees no sign of NATO complying with treaty US already disavowed
Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.
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