The European Commission on Monday urged the United States and Russia to pursue talks to preserve a nuclear weapons treaty after President Donald Trump said Washington was withdrawing from the deal.

The Commission, the 28-nation European Union executive, stressed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) has been a mainstay of European defence for the last three decades.

"The US and the Russian federation need to remain in a constructive dialogue to preserve this treaty and ensure it is fully and verifiably implemented," spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic told reporters.

She said the agreement was important for both European and global security.

"The treaty for Intermediate-Range Forces in Europe contributed to the end of the Cold War, to the end of the nuclear arms race and is one of the cornerstones of European security architecture since it entered force 30 years ago," she added.

"And thanks to this treaty almost 3,000 missiles with nuclear and conventional warheads have been removed and verifiably destroyed," Kocijancic said.

"It is also an important contribution to disarmament obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty," she said.

The agreement banning intermediate-range nuclear and conventional missiles was signed in 1987 by then US president Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader.

Gorbachev on Sunday said that "dropping these agreements... shows a lack of wisdom" and was a "mistake".

The Trump administration has complained of Moscow's deployment of Novator 9M729 missiles, which Washington says fall under the treaty's ban on missiles that can travel distances of between 310 and 3,400 miles (500 and 5,500 kilometres).

The Brussels-based North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which includes the United States, has long echoed those concerns, including during a meeting of its 29 defence ministers this month.

"After years of denials and obfuscation, Russia recently acknowledged the existence of the (9M729) missile system without providing the necessary transparency and explanation," NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu told AFP.

"In the absence of any credible answer from Russia on this new missile, Allies believe that the most plausible assessment would be that Russia is in violation of the INF Treaty. Allies continue consultations," she said.

When asked if the EU shares the US position that Russia should be blamed for the treaty's lapse, Kocijancic renewed the call for dialogue.

"We of course expect the Russian federation to address the concerns regarding its compliance with the treaty in a substantial and transparent way," the commission spokeswoman said.

Major nuclear treaties between Moscow, Washington
Paris (AFP) Oct 22, 2018 - Moscow and Washington have signed a string of key treaties aimed at reducing nuclear weapons, including the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which US President Donald Trump plans to withdraw from.

Here is a summary of these pacts:

- Two multilateral treaties -

In August 1963, the United States, the Soviet Union, and Britain signed the Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty in Moscow, banning nuclear weapons tests in the atmosphere, in outer space, and underwater.

This was followed by the landmark Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), under which nuclear powers agreed not to assist other states in obtaining or producing nuclear weapons.

In force since 1970, the NPT was extended in 1995 for an indefinite period.

- Obsolete bilateral accords -

In May 1972, Moscow and Washington signed SALT I (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks) and the ABM (Antiballistic Missile Treaty).

SALT I froze for five years the number of strategic ballistic missile launchers at existing levels. The ABM, meanwhile, banned the Soviet Union and the US from deploying missile shields.

In June 1979, the powers signed SALT II to set limits on the number of strategic bombers and launchers. But the pact was never applied.

In July 1991, the two countries agreed to cut their warheads over a period of seven years with the START I treaty, which expired in December 2009.

Another pact, known as START II, was signed in January 1993 after the collapse of the Soviet Union with the aim to further reduce each side's strategic arsenal. But it never came into force.

When the US in 2002 withdrew from the ABM Treaty, Russia withdrew from START II.

The same year, the Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty (SORT), commonly known as the Moscow Treaty, was signed to cap the number of nuclear warheads.

- Two bilateral treaties in force -

SORT was replaced in April 2010 by the new START treaty, which allowed Russia and the US a maximum of 1,550 deployed warheads -- about 30 percent lower than the limit imposed under the 2002 pact.

The accord, which also includes reciprocal checks, is up for renewal in 2021.

The INF agreement, from which Trump wants to withdraw, was created in December 1987. It bans missiles that can travel distances of between 310 and 3,400 miles (500 and 5,500 kilometres).

Trump has accused Russia of not respecting the accord.

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