The European Union has called on Russia and the United States to save a flagship nuclear arms control treaty.
In a last ditch attempt to save The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, which is set to expire on the 2 August 2019, the High Representative of the EU Council warned that in “heightened tensions, we must be careful not to enter the path of a new arms race that would offset the significant reductions achieved after the end of the Cold War.”
The High Representative highlighted the INF treaty’s “significant contribution to European security and broader international security over the past 30 years.”
The statement continued “Almost three thousand missiles with nuclear and conventional warheads were removed from European soil and verifiably destroyed, constituting a tangible contribution by the two nuclear weapon States with the largest arsenals to the implementation of their disarmament related obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.”
Kate Hudson, CND general secretary, said: “We welcome this statement from the European Union. We urge the British government to direct every diplomatic effort at saving this treaty. The alternative is a further step towards the collapse of the international rules-based system which will only increase the danger of nuclear war.”