On the sidelines of the annual United Nations General Assembly, Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei on Thursday called on the global community to sign a declaration on a complete ban of the deployment and production of medium- and long-range missiles.
Makei pointed out that in August, the Russian-US Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) collapsed, prompting the emergence of a threat that the missiles could again be deployed in various regions including Europe. Belarus called for actions to preserve what the treaty accomplished in Europe, according to the top diplomat.
“The head of the Belarusian state [Alexander Lukashenko] announced the initiative to draft a declaration by responsible countries about the non-deployment of medium- and short-range missiles in Europe. Our country proposes that work on the draft of this declaration be immediately begun. We call on states on both sides of the Atlantic, which care about the fate of the humankind, to support us in this endeavor”, Makei told the UN General Assembly on Thursday.
The United Nations and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe could provide suitable platforms for this work, Makei added.
“The key element of this document, we believe, is a clear and solid commitment of the countries on the non-deployment of medium- and short-range missiles on their territory and [a] refusal to produce them”, Makei noted.
The INF, signed by the United States…
