Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened to restart production of intermediate-range nuclear weapons if the United States confirms its intention to deploy missiles in Germany or elsewhere in Europe.
“If the US implements such plans, we will consider releasing the previously adopted unilateral moratorium on the deployment of weapons that have medium and short-range capabilities,” Putin said during a naval parade in St. Petersburg on July 28.
Such missiles, which can fly between 500 and 5,500 kilometers, were subject to the nuclear arms control treaty signed by the US and the Soviet Union in 1987.
Washington and Moscow left the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in 2019, accusing each other of violating the treaty.
Later, Russia said it would not resume production of such weapons as long as the US did not deploy missiles abroad.
In early July, Washington and Berlin announced “episodic deployments” of US long-range missiles, including Tomahawk cruise missiles, to Germany starting in 2026.
Putin said that “important Russian administrative and military locations” would be within range of such missiles, which “in the future could be equipped with nuclear warheads and these missiles could reach our territories within 10 minutes.”
“This situation reminds us of the events of the Cold War related to the deployment in Europe of American medium-range missiles,” Putin said.
The Kremlin has already warned earlier this month that the announcement of the deployment of US weapons would mean that European capitals would become targets for Russian missiles. /REL/
