"It is time for a European disarmament initiative. After all, security in Europe only exists with Russia. NATO should offer to withdraw its tactical nuclear weapons from Europe and also renounce US National Missile Defence (NMD) — if Russia is also prepared for disarmament steps on Iskander missiles and cruise missiles", Jurgen Trittin wrote in an article for Frankfurter Rundschau.
According to Trittin, it would be a reciprocal affair, "Europe reduces its nuclear threat when Russia reduces its economic one".
The Bundestag member has also noted that the world is facing a new nuclear arms race.
"We are facing a new arms race, but this time deterrence could fail. It is not enough to simply blame it on Russia", Jurgen Trittin, who is also a member of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly noted in his article.
READ MORE: US Exit From INF Treaty Poses Threat to Europeans — Russian Lawmaker
The article comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin warned in his annual address to parliament on 20 February that Moscow would be obliged to give an adequate response if Washington deployed new missiles to Europe. Putin emphasised that Russian weaponry, in this case, could target not only areas posing a direct threat to Russia but also those areas where decision-making centres that determine and control how the missile systems are used.
On 2 February, the US suspended its obligations under the 1987 INF Treaty, which forbids all ground-launched missiles, conventional or nuclear, with ranges of 310 to 3,400 miles, and triggered the six-month withdrawal process unless Moscow remedied its alleged violations of the bilateral arms control deal. Putin, in turn, announced that Moscow had also suspended its obligations under the treaty in response to the US move.
