UNITED NATIONS, January 18. /TASS/. United Nations Secretary General Antonio 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.

"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. "We understand that there are some questions which need to be addressed and strongly encourage the parties to address those questions to have a common view on what the treaty really says in order for the treaty to be preserved."

"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," Guterres stressed.