German foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) has called on Russia to preserve the INF disarmament Treaty. “We believe that Russia can save the contract,” said Maas on Friday after talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow. To this end, Russia must disarm its cruise missiles “proven and verifiable”, in the view of the American government and the Nato under the agreement is prohibited, said Maas at the joint press conference with Lavrov. Therefore, only “a few days” time, however, remained.

The American President Donald Trump had announced at the end of October the withdrawal of the United States from the INF Treaty. The United States had set Russia a deadline in February to return to the provisions of the Treaty. In the view of Washington and of Nato, Russia is in breach with its missile system 9M729 against the Treaty, supported the abolition of all soil, nuclear equippable medium-range missiles with a range over 500 kilometers.

Germany had a “great interest” the fact that the Treaty would be maintained, stressed Maas. “He touched our security interests in a fundamental way.” The Federal government therefore welcome the recent talks between Moscow and Washington to the rescue of the agreement in Geneva. The talks had been on Tuesday but without result. Russian representatives said that the American Delegation had confirmed the intention of their government, from the 2. February from the agreement to withdraw.

No agreement to the Azov sea

Maas criticized that Russia had replied to during the past year only “piece for piece” the questions to his new weapons system. “This is not an information policy which helps to believe that there is no violation of the INF Treaty.”

in Addition, the 30-year-old INF Treaty was no longer sufficient for today, said Maas. Necessary a far-reaching contractual basis to the international arms control, in particular, China with the inclusion of. The Minister announced, in March, an international conference in Berlin to convene, “the regulation of new weapons to bring species forward”. It should go, among other things, automatic weapons systems and cyber weapons.

Maas spoke to Lavrov on the situation in the Ukraine. The crisis of the free waterway to the sea of Azov should not be allowed to repeat itself. He had spoken with Lavrov about the offer of Germany and France to document the free. There have been no agreement. On Friday Maas travels to talks in Ukraine.