2024-07-29 09:53:24
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the United States on Sunday that if it deploys long-range missiles in Germany starting in 2026, Russia will place similar missiles in locations that will make it easier to bomb the West.
“If the United States implements such plans, we will consider that we have been freed from the previously adopted unilateral moratorium on the deployment of medium- and short-range strike capabilities,” Putin said during a speech at a naval parade in St. Petersburg.
He stressed that “the development of a number of systems of this type is in its final stages” in Russia.
The Russian president warned, saying, “We will take retaliatory measures by deploying them, taking into account the actions of the United States and its satellites in Europe and other regions of the world.”
Washington and Berlin said in a joint statement earlier this month that the United States would begin deploying long-range weapons in Germany in 2026, as part of efforts to demonstrate its commitment to NATO and the defense of Europe.
Washington and Berlin said the US “phased deployments” were in preparation for the longer-term deployment of similar weapons that would include SM-6 missiles, Tomahawk cruise missiles and advanced hypersonic weapons with longer ranges than current capabilities in Europe.
The use of this type of weapon, which has a range of between 500 and 5,500 kilometers, was prohibited under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty between Washington and Moscow, signed during the Cold War era.
Russia and the United States withdrew from the treaty in 2019, each accusing the other of non-compliance.
Putin said, “The flight time of these missiles to targets on our territory will be about 10 minutes, and in the future they may be equipped with nuclear warheads.”
Putin considered that Washington was fueling tensions and had transferred Typhoon missile systems to Denmark and the Philippines, and he likened the American plans to NATO’s decision to deploy Pershing 2 launch systems in Western Europe in 1979.
The United States deployed American Pershing ballistic missiles to West Germany in the 1980s, during the Cold War.
The deployment of American missiles continued during German reunification and into the 1990s.
But after the end of the Cold War, the United States significantly reduced the number of missiles in Europe as the Russian threat receded.
Last updated: July 28, 2024 – 19:41
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2024-07-29 09:53:24