(Bloomberg) -- French President Emmanuel Macron told President Donald Trump he's concerned about European security if the U.S. pulls out of a 1987 nuclear weapons treaty with Russia.
Macron emphasized “the importance of this treaty for European security and our strategic balance” in the conversation with Trump on Sunday, his office said in a statement.
Trump said Saturday that Russia is breaching the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty and that the administration is “going to terminate the agreement.” Macron's comments echo concern in Germany, which has no nuclear weapons of its own and was at the front line of the confrontation between NATO and the Soviet bloc during the Cold War.
Read more: Trump Plans to Pull Out of Nuclear Weapons Pact With Russia
Macron and Trump also discussed the “circumstances leading to the tragic death” of writer and Saudi government critic Jamal Khashoggi at Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul, according to the statement.
European leaders and U.S. lawmakers are demanding a full explanation, expressing doubts about the initial accounts offered by Saudi Arabia. The U.K., France and Germany demanded “urgent clarification” in a joint statement on Sunday. France separately reminded Saudi Arabia of the “strategic partnership” between the two countries.
Trump and Macron also discussed Syria before the French leader meets counterparts from Russia, Turkey and Germany in Istanbul on Saturday.
To contact the reporter on this story: Helene Fouquet in Paris at hfouquet1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alan Crawford at acrawford6@bloomberg.net, Tony Czuczka, Kevin Costelloe
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