Russia will place long-range missiles banned in the past near Western countries if the United States fulfills its commitment to deploy several types of nuclear-capable missiles in Germany, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
Washington and Berlin announced earlier this month that the United States would begin the “episodic deployment” of long-range precision weapons in Germany in 2026, as part of a demonstration of the U. S. policy of commitment to NATO and European deterrence.
These weapons will come with SM-6 and Tomahawk cruise missiles, as well as “hypersonic cannons under development, which have particularly greater diversity than existing ground-based shots in Europe,” the governments said in a statement.
Greater diversity missiles, such as the SM-6 and Tomahawks, would have been banned under the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, which banned nuclear and traditional missiles with a diversity of just over three hundred miles. at approximately 3,400 miles. .
The United States officially withdrew from the INF Treaty in mid-2019 after accusing Russia of violating its terms, an accusation echoed by NATO but denied by Moscow. Both had suspended their participation months before.
Russia has said it will resume production of such missiles until the United States sends its own missiles abroad.
Earlier this year, the United States deployed what is known as a medium-range missile formula in the northern Philippines. The formula fires SM-6 and Tomahawk missiles. Putin had said in the past that intermediate-range missiles had been used in Denmark for ceremonies.
At the end of June, Putin announced that Moscow would restart production of these missiles with short- and medium-range nuclear capabilities.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier this month that “all the symbols of the Cold War have returned. “
“If the United States implements those plans, we ourselves will be freed from our unilateral moratorium on the deployment of medium- and short-range strike weapons, adding measures to strengthen the roles of our coastal defense troops. “A speech in the Russian city of St. Petersburg on Sunday, according to Russian state media.
Moscow is nearing the end of progress on this missile systems thing, the Kremlin leader said. “We will take in-kind measures to deploy them, taking into account the movements of the United States and its cronies in Europe and other parts of the world. “
“This is reminiscent of Cold War times,” when the United States deployed Pershing II intermediate-range ballistic missiles in West Germany, Putin said.
The U. S. missiles expected to be deployed in two years would put Moscow’s military and state command facilities, shopping malls and defense infrastructure within a range of attacks, Putin said.
“The flight time of these missiles, which will probably be equipped with nuclear warheads, will be about 10 minutes to reach targets on our territory. “
Ellie Cook is a security and defense reporter for Newsweek based in London, United Kingdom. Her paintings focus largely on the war between Russia and Ukraine, the US military, weapons systems, and emerging technologies. She joined Newsweek in January 2023, after working as a journalist at the Daily Express and has a degree in foreign journalism from City University of London.
Languages: English, Spanish.
Ellie can be reached via email at e. cook@newsweek. com.
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