"This is very bad news from the United States because intermediate and short-range systems are quite dangerous for Europe… On the other hand, it is not to exclude that the United States wants just a new treaty with better conditions, like [in the case of] the nuclear deal with Iran," Alexander Neu, the Left Party (Die Linke) spokesperson in the Bundestag Defense Committee stated on Monday.
The spokesman added that he was not able to assess the credibility of Trump's claims about Moscow breaching the treaty, and stressed once again that the document's nullification would, first of all, affect Europe.
READ MORE: Macron Stresses Importance of INF Treaty for EU Security in Call With Trump
Earlier in the day, the German Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman, Maria Adebahr, noted that Berlin advocates the preservation of the INF, as well as the functioning mechanism for reduction of weapons in Europe.
Prior to that, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated that Moscow would formulate a position on the issue only after receiving official clarifications from Washington. He added that any action in this area would be met with a counteraction, stressing that parity would be maintained under any circumstances.
The statements followed the US President Donald Trump's announcement made on Saturday that the United States would withdraw from the INF treaty over the alleged violations of the agreement by Russia.
In May, the United States withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which stipulated the gradual lifting of the anti-Iran sanctions in exchange for Tehran maintaining the peaceful nature of its nuclear program. Commenting on the decision, Trump stated that he expected to negotiate a better and fairer deal with Iran.
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