Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened to relaunch production of intermediate-range nuclear weapons if the United States confirmed 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,” Mr Putin said during a naval parade in Saint Petersburg.
The US will start deploying long-range fire capabilities in Germany in 2026 in an effort to demonstrate its commitment to NATO and European defence, the United States and Germany said earlier this month.
The US’ “episodic deployments” are in preparation for longer-term stationing of such capabilities that will include SM-6, Tomahawk cruise missiles and developmental hypersonic weapons that have a longer range than current capabilities in Europe, Washington and Berlin said.
In a speech to sailors from Russia, China, Algeria and India to mark Russian navy day, Mr Putin warned the United States that it risked triggering a Cold War-style missile crisis with the move.
“The flight time to targets on our territory of such missiles, which in the future may be equipped with nuclear warheads, will be about ten minutes,” Mr Putin said.
“We will take mirror measures to deploy, taking into account the actions of the United States, its satellites in Europe and in other regions of the world,” he added.
Mr Putin said that the US was stoking tensions and had transferred Typhon missile systems to Denmark and the Philippines, and compared the US plans to the NATO decision to deploy Pershing II launchers in western Europe in 1979.
The Soviet leadership, including General Secretary Yuri Andropov, feared Pershing II deployments were part of an elaborate US-led plan to decapitate the Soviet Union by taking out its political and military leadership.
“This situation is reminiscent of the events of the Cold War related to the deployment of American medium–range Pershing missiles in Europe,” Mr Putin said.