MOSCOW, October 24. /TASS/. Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has promised Russian President Vladimir Putin that Italy will provide support of Russian-US dialogue on the issue of the INF (Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces) Treaty.

"Italy is very anxious about this issue, as it concerns shorter-and intermediate-range missiles. Which is why we care that this treaty may be broken. I have already let President Putin know that I was very young during the age of Pershing missiles, and I would not like to go back to that time, which we managed to overcome. And I’ll communicate the same to President Trump in a phone call, that Italy will do everything in its power to offer its contribution, so that an opportunity for dialogue will remain on this issue," he said on Wednesday during a joint press conference with Putin.

"We must concentrate on other prospects of cooperation and avoid escalation which may be concerning for everyone," he added.

On October 20, US President Donald Trump said that Washington would withdraw from the INF Treaty, as Russia was violating the terms of the agreement. At the same time, he did not rule out signing a new agreement on intermediate-range nuclear forces with Moscow and Beijing if Russia and China provide guarantees of halting the production of such weapons.

The INF Treaty was signed between the Soviet Union and the United States on December 8, 1987 in Washington, DC. The US accused Russia of violating the agreement for the first time in July 2014. Later, Washington repeated the claims on many occasions, while Moscow rejected them, also accusing the US of developing and deploying missiles and missile defense elements prohibited by the treaty.