WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is consulting with its European allies on a long-range nuclear power treaty as NATO member states urged Washington to try to push Russia to respect the treaty rather than withdraw from Washington, US Defense Secretary Jim Matisse said on Sunday.
US President Donald Trump said on October 20 that Washington planned to withdraw from the treaty signed by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev with former US president Ronald Reagan in 1987.
Washington said the reason for its intention to withdraw from the treaty was Russia's violation of it, which Moscow denies. In return, Russia accuses Washington of not complying with the treaty.
"We were consulting with our European counterparts," Matisse told reporters accompanying him to Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic.
Matisse is scheduled to meet Czech Prime Minister and Defense Minister Andrzej Papysz during his short visit to Prague.
Matisse said NATO ministers were due to meet in Brussels in December.
Diplomats said European Union members urged Washington on Thursday to work to bring Russia back into compliance with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, rather than withdrawing from it.
He said he had asked his NATO counterparts after their latest summit whether they had ideas on how to get Russia to comply with the treaty, but had not yet received a response from any of them.
Asked if he ruled out the deployment of medium-range missiles on the ground, if Washington pulled out of the treaty, Matisse said, "I never rule anything out that way" and I do not think it is imminent.
"We have a number of ways to respond, it is not necessary to have a similar response, but it will be in close consultation with the allies," he said.
