Putin: Russia to restart production of intermediate-range nuclear weapons
In a warning to the West, Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that Moscow will restart the production of intermediate-range nuclear weapons once the United States confirms its intention to deploy missiles to Germany or elsewhere in Europe.
“If the United States carries out such plans, we will consider ourselves liberated from the unilateral moratorium previously adopted on the deployment of medium- and short-range strike capabilities,” Putin said on Sunday at a naval parade in Saint Petersburg.
The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), signed by the US and the Soviet Union in 1987, put arms controls on missiles that could travel between 500 and 5,500 kilometers.
However, both Washington and Moscow withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in 2019. Moscow blamed Washington for the looming collapse of the key nuclear arms control deal, and vice versa.
After the collapse of the INF deal, Russia said it would restart the production of intermediate-range nuclear weapons if such missiles were deployed near the country's borders and Moscow was under clear and direct threat of attack by the United States.
The United States announced in early July that Washington had made plans for the “episodic deployments” of long-range US missiles in Germany, starting in 2026.
The deal includes deploying Tomahawk missiles and advanced hypersonic weapons with greater range than those possessed by European powers.
The deployment of such weapons would be the first time in decades that the European continent served as a launching pad for US intermediate-range missiles.
The Russian leader said on Sunday that “important Russian administrative and military sites” would fall within the range of US intermediate-range missiles that were deployed in Germany.
Putin said such missiles “could in the future be equipped with nuclear warheads, such that our territories would be within around 10 minutes” of a strike being launched.
“This situation reminds us of the events of the Cold War linked to the deployment of American Pershing medium-range missiles in Europe,” said pointed out.
In mid-July, the Kremlin had warned the West that to create a balance to the proposed US plan for the deployment of intermediate-range missiles to Germany to threaten Moscow, European capitals in return would become a target for Russian intermediate-range missiles.
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