Russia could deploy new strike weapons in response to the planned US deployment of hypersonic and long-range missiles in Germanythe Russian leader said on Sunday, Vladimir Putin.
At a naval parade in St. Petersburg, Putin promised “mirror measures” after the United States announced earlier this month that it would begin deploying the weapons in 2026, to affirm its commitment to NATO and European defense following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
“If the United States implements such plans, we will consider ourselves free from the previously imposed unilateral moratorium on the deployment of intermediate- and short-range strike weapons, including increasing the capabilities of our navy’s coastal forces,” Putin said. He added that Moscow’s development of appropriate systems is “at its final stage.”
Both Washington and Moscow have signaled in recent weeks their readiness to deploy intermediate-range ground-based weapons that were banned for decades under a 1987 U.S.-Soviet treaty. The United States withdrew from the deal in 2019, accusing Russia of conducting missile tests that violated it.
The allegations, which Russia denied, came at a time of heightened tensions between Moscow and the West following the downing of a Malaysian passenger plane carrying 298 people in eastern Ukraine. Two Russians and a pro-Russian Ukrainian were convicted for their role in the attack.
Washington and Berlin said in a joint statement this month that U.S. weapons to be placed in Germany would ultimately include SM-6 missiles, Tomahawk cruise missiles and “developmental hypersonic weapons,” including those with significantly longer ranges than those currently deployed across Europe.
Most of Russia’s missile systems are capable of carrying conventional or nuclear warheads. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said last week that the Kremlin was not ruling out further deployments of nuclear missiles in response to the US move.
Ryabkov added that the defence of Kaliningrad, Russia’s heavily militarised enclave sandwiched between NATO members Poland and Lithuania, was of particular concern.
Putin has for years portrayed the US deployment of missile infrastructure in Europe as an aggressive move aimed at crippling Moscow’s capabilities.
News of the planned deployment of new weapons in Germany came at a NATO summit in Washington earlier this month. At the same event, the allies announced that a new US base in Poland, Ukraine’s western neighbour, is ready to become operational and will be capable of intercepting ballistic missiles.
Source: AP
