US exit from INF treaty harms stability, nuclear disarmament, says Italian expert

BRUSSELS: The US exit from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty creates uncertainties with consequences including threatening regional and global stability and nuclear disarmament, according to a senior Italian expert, reports Xinhua.

Washington will issue a formal notice of its withdrawal from the 1987 treaty with Moscow on eliminating their intermediaterange and shorter-range missiles ‘in due course’, US National Security Advisor John Bolton said after President Donald Trump announced the decision on Oct 20.

“This is not a good message for global stability and the world’s nuclear disarmament strategy,” said Stefano Silvestri, former Italian undersecretary of state for defence and senior scientific advisor at the Institute for International Affairs, in a recent interview with Xinhua.

For its withdrawal, the US has cited Russian violations of the bilateral arms control agreement in recent years.

In this regard, Silvestri thinks negotiation is a better way to deal with the situation.

“It would have been better for the US to stay in the treaty and underline eventual Russian violations and oblige Russia to come to the technical commissions in order to discuss such violations — this extreme decision has the effect of blocking any positive ongoing negotiations,” he said.