The European Union is not ready to give assurances that the United States won't deploy its missiles on the bloc's territory in the event of Washington's withdrawal from the INF treaty, Russia's Permanent Representative to the EU Vladimir Chizhov told Sputnik on Thursday.
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When asked if he had discussed Washington's proposed exit from the agreement with his EU colleagues, Chizhov said that they [EU politicians] responded by saying that the European Union "has nothing to do with it, not being a military bloc."
"Some German politicians, including members of the European Parliament, raise the issue of making a decision at the EU level, banning the deployment of missiles — understandably, of the Americans — on the country's territory,” Chizhov said.
Earlier this week, German Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Adebahr told a briefing that Berlin "advocated the preservation" of the INF treaty and "the functioning architecture of arms reduction in Europe."
The statements follow the announcement made earlier by Donald Trump that Washington would scrap the 1987 INF treaty over Russia's alleged violations of the agreement. Moscow, in turn, has denied the allegations, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stressing that Russia "closely adheres to its obligations" under the treaty.
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The INF Treaty, which was inked by Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan on December 8, 1987, prohibits the development, deployment and testing of medium-range and shorter-range ballistic missiles and ground-launched cruise missiles.
