The North Atlantic Treaty Organization will continue dialogue with Russia and to strive for a better relationship with Moscow in an effort to prevent a future arms race between adversaries, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Monday.
His comments come nearly a year after Russian President Vladimir Putin suspended Moscow’s participation in the1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF). The move added a fresh layer to mounting international concerns over the prospect of a new Cold War-style arms race between the U.S. and Russia.
“We believe in dialogue with Russia, we will strive for a better relationship with Russia,” Mr. Stoltenberg said during a virtual event hosted by the Atlantic Council.
“We strongly believe in arms control,” he continued. “A new armed race will be dangerous and costly, and we’ve continued to work hard for arms control with Russia.”
Mr. Stoltenberg also pointed to Russian military action against neighboring countries Georgia and Ukraine, as well as moves to beef up nuclear capabilities.
“We have responded to this not by mirroring what Russia is doing, but making sure we have credible deterrence and defense,” the secretary-general said, “because that’s the best way to prevent conflict to remove any room for doubt, any room for miscalculation about NATO’s willingness to protect the allies.”
• Lauren Toms can be reached at lmeier@washingtontimes.com.
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