MFA of Kazakhstan comments on U.S. withdrawal from Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty

AKIPRESS.COM - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan issued a statement on withdrawal of the U.S. from the Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles.
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan expresses its regrets over the decision of the United States of America to withdraw its participation in the Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles - one of the most important factors in maintaining international security. The denunciation of the Treaty can trigger a new arms race fraught with serious consequences on a global scale.
The Republic of Kazakhstan always stood for the preservation and strict observance of the Treaty by all parties and supported its value as a unique historic agreement that allowed to eliminate a whole class of nuclear delivery vehicles and achieve a significant progress in nuclear disarmament in accordance with Article VI of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
Kazakhstan leaves no hope that the parties will make all necessary efforts to resolve the existing problems through constructive negotiations within the framework of existing bilateral and multilateral mechanisms," the statement says.
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, abbreviation INF Treaty, nuclear arms-control accord reached by the United States and the Soviet Union in 1987 in which those two nations agreed to eliminate their stocks of intermediate-range and shorter-range (or "medium-range") land-based missles (which could carry nuclear warheads). It was the first arms-control treaty to abolish an entire category of weapons systems. In addition, two protocols to the treaty established unprecedented procedures for observers from both nations to verify firsthand the other nation's destruction of its missiles. In February 2019 the United States announced that it was suspending compliance with the treaty.