United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has called on Russia and the United States to spare no effort to keep the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty in place and to sit down at the negotiating table to extend the New START Treaty, Russian News Agency TASS reported.

“Our position is very clear. We believe it’s very important that the treaty on mid-range missiles is preserved,” he told a news conference on Friday. “On the other hand, there is another treaty—New START—which should be renovated by 2021. And I think it’s very important that Russia and the United States hold negotiation on time to make sure this treaty is renewed. It’s very important that the architecture of the treaty that exists would be preserved and if possible improved.”