Austria concerned about US plans to exit INF Treaty "Kneissl"

Austria regrets that the US wants to withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty) and believes this treaty to be the basis for the policy of detente, said Austrian Minister of Foreign Affairs Karin Kneissl on Thursday.

"I initially stated that I regret that this treaty (the INF Treaty - TASS) is doubted by the US," Kneissl said at a session of the Austrian National Council (the lower parliamentary chamber). "We, as a country where such issues are discussed each Thursday at the OSCE headquarters, are seriously concerned about it (the US’ attempts to withdraw from the treaty), because it (the INF Treaty) is an important basis for the policy of detente."

On October 20, US President Donald Trump said that the United States would quit the treaty because Russia had allegedly violated it.

The INF Treaty was concluded on December 8, 1987 and took effect on June 1, 1988. It applied to deployed and non-deployed ground-based missiles of intermediate range (1,000-5,000 kilometers) and shorter range (500-1,000 kilometers). In recent years, Washington has repeatedly charged Russia with violating the treaty. Moscow strongly dismissed the accusations and addressed the United States with its own claims over Washington’s non-compliance.