Germany would oppose new nuclear missiles in Europe - Foreign Minister

Germany would oppose new nuclear missiles in Europe - Foreign Minister
FILE PHOTO: German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas addresses an event discussing issue of '100 years of German Polish policy' in Berlin, Germany, November 15, 2018. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch/File Photo Copyright FABRIZIO BENSCH(Reuters)
Copyright FABRIZIO BENSCH(Reuters)
By Reuters
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BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany would strongly oppose any move to station new medium-range nuclear missiles in Europe if a key Cold War-era arms control treaty is scrapped, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas told DPA.

"Under no circumstances should Europe become a stage for a rearmament debate," the German news agency quoted him as saying in an interview published on Wednesday.

"Stationing of new medium-range missiles would be met with broad resistance in Germany," he said.

The United States has threatened to pull out of the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which bans Moscow and Washington from stationing short- and intermediate-range, land-based missiles in Europe.

Russia has said it was planning for a U.S. deployment of new nuclear missiles in Europe following Washington's planned withdrawal from the treaty.

Germany's Maas said: "Nuclear rearmament is most certainly the wrong answer."

(Reporting by Maria Sheahan; Editing by Paul Tait)

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