Political will is needed to rescue the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty), NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said in an interview with Welt Am Sonntag newspaper published on Sunday.

"There is less and less time left, but it is still not late, the treaty can be saved," Stoltenberg said. "In 1987 Moscow showed that it can destroy cruise missiles within several weeks," he noted.

"We are not seeking a new arms race and we don’t want a new Cold War," the NATO chief said, stressing that the alliance can stand up for itself and pursue a credible and effective policy of intimidating a potential enemy in the world without the INF Treaty, "with a large number of Russian missiles in Europe."

According to Stoltenberg, NATO’s response to the INF Treaty’s suspension will be well proportioned, coordinated and defensive in nature. These measures could include signing a new arms control treaty or new military responses in the sphere of conventional weapons.

Meanwhile, NATO is not planning to deploy new nuclear weapons in Europe, Stoltenberg emphasized. He once again accused Russia of violating the treaty and called on Moscow to destroy the SSC-8 type missiles (9M729 according to Russian classification).

The NATO chief noted that China is becoming stronger in military terms. "They [the Chinese] are investing more and more money in developing armaments, including nuclear weapons. Some NATO countries believe it could be advisable to involve China in the new arms control system," Stoltenberg said. According to him, the new deal could take into account risks linked to introducing artificial intelligence and also threats emerging in the cyber space.