“NATO’s top official on Wednesday blamed Russia for breaching a landmark nuclear arms pact that Washington is talking about quitting, but said he did not believe the Russian threat would lead to new deployments of U.S. missiles in Europe. In his first remarks since Washington announced on Saturday that it planned to pull out of the INF Treaty, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg lay blame on Russia for violating the treaty by developing the SSC-8, a land-based, intermediate-range Cruise missile which also has the name of Novator 9M729. But he said he did not think this would lead to reciprocal deployment of U.S. missiles in Europe as happened in the 1980s. ‘We will assess the implications for NATO allies, for our security, of the new Russian missile … but I don’t foresee that allies will station more nuclear weapons in Europe as a response to the new Russian missile,’ Stoltenberg told a news conference.”
Source: NATO chief sees new U.S. missile deployments in Europe as unlikely | Reuters
