The statement comes shortly after the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty was terminated starting 2 August at Washington's initiative, APA reports citing Sputnik.
During a Friday press-conference in Brussels, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that the alliance would not deploy new ground-based nuclear missiles in Europe following the break-up of the INF Treaty.
Even though the accord was officially terminated on 2 August, the military bloc doesn't "want a new arms race", Stoltenberg said, adding that it could be prevented.
The Secretary-General continued by saying that NATO is not going to take hasty action after the termination of the agreement.
"We agreed to a package of measures that guarantees that NATO's defence and deterrence forces will remain reliable and effective. But we will not rush into implementing these measures or take any hasty actions. We will carefully examine the options", he told a press conferences.
The 1987 Treaty, which banned the deployment of ground-based nuclear weapons with a range of 500 to 5,500 km, was terminated starting 2 August at the initiative of the United States, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated earlier in the day.
"On 2 August 2019 the Treaty between the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the United States of America on the elimination of medium- and short-range missiles, signed in Washington on 8 December 1987, was terminated at the initiative of the American side".
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, meanwhile, confirmed the withdrawal, but blamed the collapse of the pact on Russia.
Stoltenberg on Delivery of Russia's S-400s to Turkey
The official then addressed the issue of the Russian S-400 air defence systems that had been delivered to Turkey last month, and said that the Russia-made military equipment would not be integrated into any of the alliance's defence systems.
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