EU Hoping INF Treaty May Still Be Salvaged - Mogherini

The European Union is still hoping that the Treaty on Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF Treaty) can be saved, despite US plan to withdraw, EU Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini said Tuesday, ahead of talks with EU states' defense ministers.

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th November, 2018) The European Union is still hoping that the Treaty on Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF Treaty) can be saved, despite US plan to withdraw, EU Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini said Tuesday, ahead of talks with EU states' defense ministers.

Last month, US President Donald Trump announced the country's withdrawal from the INF Treaty over the alleged Russian violations of the agreement.

"If there are issues or problems in the implementation [of the INF treaty], we believe the right way to go is to insist on the full implementation rather than withdrawal.

So we still hope that there is a space for strengthening its implementation rather than dismantling it," Mogherini told reporters, when asked about the treaty.

The EU diplomacy chief said that she understood the issue with absence of the enforcing mechanism in the treaty. At the same time, Mogherini stressed that the agreement was very important for Europe, and its possible dismantlement could put Europe's security at risk.