NATO rejects Russian accusations on missile deployment

"We have now seen the demise of this treaty, because Russia violated the treaty by deploying new intermediate-range nuclear capable missiles in Europe. They have done that for many years and that led to the demise of treaty banning all intermediate-range weapons," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels.

He added Russia's call for a moratorium would not be credible unless Moscow 'destroys all its SSC-8 missiles.'

Stoltenberg was referring to the 1987 INF treaty between then-Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and U.S. President Ronald Reagan that banned intermediate-range nuclear weapons - those with a range of 500 to 5,500 km - in Europe.