2024-07-28 23:51:11
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned the United States that if Washington deploys long-range missiles in Germany after 2026, Moscow will also deploy such missiles within range of the West, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
In a speech in the former imperial capital of St Petersburg to sailors from Russia, China, Algeria and India on the occasion of Russian Navy Day, Putin warned the US that it risked triggering a Cold War-style missile crisis.
“The time to reach targets on our territory from these missiles, which in the future may be equipped with nuclear warheads, will be about 10 minutes,” said the Russian president. “We will take mirror measures given the actions of the US, its satellites in Europe and in other regions of the world.”
The US will begin deploying long-range military capabilities to Germany in 2026 to show its commitment to NATO and European defense, Washington and Berlin said earlier this month.
These “episodic deployments” will be in preparation for the longer-term deployment of such assets, which will include SM-6 missiles, Tomahawk cruise missiles and hypersonic weapons currently under development. All of these missiles have a longer range than those currently deployed in Europe, the US and Germany said.
In his speech, Putin said Washington was stoking tensions and had transferred Typhoon missile systems to Denmark and the Philippines, and compared American intentions to NATO’s decision to base Pershing 2 missile systems in Western Europe in 1979.
At the time, the Soviet leadership, including CPSU General Secretary Yuri Andropov, feared that the Pershing 2 deployment was part of a complex US-led plan to decapitate the USSR by removing its political and military leadership.
“The situation is reminiscent of the events of the Cold War when the US Pershing medium-range missiles were deployed in Europe,” Putin said.
The Russian president again warned that Russia could resume production of medium- and shorter-range missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads and then consider where to deploy them after the US bases such weapons in Europe and Asia.