ST.PETERSBURG, June 1. /TASS/. Implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement without the key participants will be complicated, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday.
"Certainly, it will be difficult to efficiently enact this treaty without the key participants but there is no other alternative at the moment," Peskov stressed. He refused to comment on the Kremlin’s stance towards US plans to withdraw from the deal "until a decision is officially declared."
The #ParisAccord: a sustainable and dynamic agreement ☞ https://t.co/Sh91X6bfrF pic.twitter.com/yLwnTOSsrI
— France Diplomacy (@francediplo_EN) 1 June 2017
Media reports earlier said that US President Donald Trump has decided to pull out of the Paris climate deal.
I will be announcing my decision on Paris Accord, Thursday at 3:00 P.M. The White House Rose Garden. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 1 June 2017
Peskov noted that when Russian President Vladimir Putin attended the Paris Climate Change Conference in 2015, he approved the agreement.
"Russia attaches great importance [to fulfilling agreements]," the Kremlin spokesman said.
The Paris Climate Agreement, which replaces the Kyoto Protocol, came into force in November 2016. A total of 195 countries signed it, 147 of which have already ratified the document. The aim of the agreement is to prevent a rise in the average temperature on the planet by more than two degrees Celsius compared to the pre-industrial area by 2100.
Scientists believe that a more significant increase in temperatures can lead to irreversible environmental effects.