By Ayhan Simsek </p> <p>BERLIN (AA) – Germany said on Saturday that it would oppose stationing new medium-range nuclear missiles in Europe after the U.S. and Russia announced that they are pulling out of a landmark arms treaty. </p> <p>“Stationing medium-range nuclear missiles in Europe now would be the wrong answer. We can’t fight a fire by adding fuel to the fire,” Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in an interview with Funke Media Group. </p> <p>Maas said Germany is planning to host next month an international disarmament conference in Berlin, which would focus on new advanced weapons systems. </p> <p>“We need new rules for the new technologies,” he said, referring to advanced missiles, autonomous weapons systems, cyber-arms and killer robots. </p> <p>The U.S. had accused Russia of violating the Intermediate-Range Nuclear (INF) treaty and announced on Friday that it was withdrawing from the pact, which could come into effect on Aug. 2.</p> <p>On Saturday, in a tit-for-tat response, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia was suspending its obligations under the INF treaty. </p> <p>The treaty has been widely seen as a cornerstone of European security in the post-Cold War era.
Signed in 1987 between the U.S. and Russia, the INF treaty prohibited both countries from possessing and testing ground launch missiles with a range between 500 and 5,500 kilometers.
