Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday warned the United States over its planned stationing of longer-range and hypersonic missiles in Germany.
Reacting to the US commitment to NATO and European defence regarding the deployment of weapons following Moscow’s all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Putin said that mirror measures will be taken in retaliation.
Will Take Mirror Measures, Vows Putin
“If the US implements such plans, we will consider ourselves free from the previously imposed unilateral moratorium on the deployment of intermediate and shorter-range strike weapons, including increasing the capability of the coastal forces of our navy,” Putin said at a naval parade in St Petersburg.
He added that Moscow’s development of suitable systems is “in its final stage”.
US, Russia Signals Deployment of Intermediate-range Missiles
Recently, both Washington and Moscow have indicated their willingness to deploy intermediate-range ground-based weapons, which were prohibited for decades under a 1987 US-Soviet treaty. The US withdrew from the agreement in 2019, alleging that Moscow had conducted missile tests in violation of the treaty.
Tomahawk Cruise Missiles To Be Deployed In Germany
Washington and Berlin said in a joint statement this month that the US weapons to be placed in Germany would ultimately include SM-6 missiles, Tomahawk cruise missiles, and “developmental hypersonic weapons”, including those with a significantly longer range than the ones currently deployed across Europe.
Kremlin Does Not Rule Deployment of Nuclear Weapons
Most of Russia’s missile systems are capable of carrying either conventional or nuclear warheads. Russia’s Deputy Foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, said last week that the Kremlin did not rule out new deployments of nuclear missiles in response to the US move.
Ryabkov added that defending Kaliningrad, Russia’s heavily militarised exclave wedged between NATO members Poland and Lithuania, was of particular concern.
Putin has for years cast US deployment of missile infrastructure in Europe as an aggressive move aimed at hamstringing Moscow’s capabilities. The news about the planned stationing of new weapons in Germany came at a NATO summit in Washington earlier this month. At the same event, allies announced that a new US base in Poland, Ukraine’s western neighbour, is ready to enter operation and will be capable of intercepting ballistic missiles.
(With inputs from Agencies)
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