MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

UN confident US, Russia will work out their differences over IRNF

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres “hopes that the two countries will be able to solve their disagreements,” Haq said.

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres believes Russia and the United States will manage to work out their differences regarding the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (IRNF) Treaty, according to UN spokesman Farhan Haq.

 “The Secretary General is aware of the US comments regarding the IRNF Treaty and he still hopes that the two countries will be able to solve their disagreements,” Haq said on Monday.

US President Donald Trump warned Saturday that his country said would withdraw from the IRNF Treaty because Russia, in his opinion, was not abiding by it.

But Trump did not rule out signing a new agreement with Moscow and Beijing if Russia and China accept to stop developing such weapons.

The IRNF Treaty was signed in Washington on December 8, 1987 and went into effect on June 1, 1988.

In 1992, with the end of the Soviet Union, newly independent countries became co-signatories. Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine joined until the full elimination of their own missiles of the relevant class.

The IRNF Treaty provided for the elimination of operational and non-operational medium range (1,000-5,500 kilometres) and shorter range (500-1,000 kilometres) ground-launched missiles. The Soviet Union eliminated 1,846 missiles, and the United States, 846.

The United States first accused Russia of violating the INF Treaty in July 2014. Moscow has rejected that accusation and each one that ensued. Last year, a motion was introduced before the US Congress to impose sanctions on Russia for violating the INF Treaty.

The United States are also rumoured to be entertaining the alternative of revising the New START Treaty.