Austria: End of INF treaty a 'threat to Europe's security'

Austria said Friday that the end of a Cold War-era missile pact between the United States and Russia was a "threat" to European security.

"Europe must not become the scene of a new arms race," Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said in a statement after the US and Russia abandoned the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty, which limited the use of both conventional and nuclear medium-range missiles.

"The end of the INF treaty represents a threat to security in Europe," Schallenberg said, calling the pact "a milestone on the path to the end of the Cold War".

"In light of current tensions, the emphasis must be on the search for diplomatic solutions and rebuilding trust through concrete disarmament measures," the statement said.

A first step towards this would be for both sides to voluntarily declare that they will not station medium-range missiles in Europe," Schallenberg went on.

Austria prides itself on its neutral status and was one of the countries which pushed for the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which does not include any nuclear weapons states among its signatories.

"A ban in international law is a pre-requisite for a nuclear-free world and particularly against the backdrop of the end of the INF treaty, it is an important signal against the dangerous trend towards rearmament," Schallenberg said.

Both the US and Russia had signalled their intention to pull out of the INF for months, trading accusations of breaking the terms of the deal.

Russia has urged the US to implement a moratorium on deploying intermediate-range nuclear missiles after leaving the INF.