Russia urges US to withdraw nuclear weapons from Europe

Feb 7, 2011, 14:19 GMT

Moscow - Russia on Monday urged the United States to withdraw its tactical nuclear weapons from Europe.

Such a move would build confidence, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in Moscow, Interfax news agency reported.

The call came two days after A New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or New Start, came into force between Russia and the US.

Earlier, Russia's State Duma parliament had asked the US to redeploy its nuclear weapons back home and dismantle the infrastructure for them on foreign soil.

Deputy Defence Minister Anatoly Antonov repeated his call for NATO to build a common missile defence programme with Russia in Europe.

'At the moment there are no weapons in the region that are a threat to NATO,' he was quoted as saying. 'In this context, any defence system built solely by NATO would be directed at Russia.'

In such a case Russia would react militarily, he said, hinting at the deployment of short-range missiles.

'In principle, we want further nuclear disarmament,' Antonov said, adding that Moscow was prepared to talk with other nuclear powers in addition to the US.

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