Russian President Vladimir Putin called for the resumption of production of medium and short-range nuclear missiles, which had been banned under a treaty with the United States, now defunct.
According to the former Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, signed by Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan in 1987, the two superpowers agreed to eliminate ballistic and cruise missiles, nuclear and conventional, with ranges from 500 to 5500 kilometers.
The signed agreement eliminated an entire category of nuclear weapons and established an on-site inspection and verification system, according to the Arms Control Association materials.
Under the terms of the treaty, the United States and Russia destroyed 2692 short-range and medium-range missiles within the deadline for treaty implementation, on June 1, 1991, according to the Arms Control Association.
“The resumption of missile production is now necessary,” said Mr. Putin on Friday during a televised session of the Russian Security Council, “because the United States has resumed production and deployment of missiles in Denmark and the Philippines.” “It is now known that the United States not only produces these missile systems, but has already brought them to Europe for training, in Denmark. It was recently announced that they are located in the Philippines,” the Russian leader said.
The American military announced in April that it had successfully deployed a medium-range missile system in Northern Luzon, Philippines, as part of a military exercise. The US military stated that “the significant deployment marks a historic moment for this new capability, enhancing interoperability, readiness, and defense capabilities, in coordination with the Armed Forces of the Philippines”.
“We need to start production of these strike systems and then, based on the current situation, make decisions on where, if necessary to ensure our security, to deploy them,” Mr. Putin told the council.
News of the possibility of restarting the production of nuclear missiles comes as Russia’s conflict in Ukraine continues. Mr. Putin recently threatened to deploy conventional weapons with strike capabilities against the United States and their European allies if their long-range weapons donated to Ukraine would allow Ukraine to strike deeper within Russian territory. /VOA/.
