Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia would deploy short and intermediate-range nuclear-capable missiles if American missile systems capable of striking Russian territory were deployed in Germany.
Putin was responding to a joint statement of the White House with German authorities during the NATO security summit on July 9-11 saying that the U.S. will begin deploying long-range weapons in Germany in 2026.
“Exercising these advanced capabilities will demonstrate the United States’ commitment to NATO and its contributions to European integrated deterrence,” the statement said.
During the summit, France, Germany, Italy and Poland also agreed to jointly develop ground-launched cruise missiles with a range beyond 500 kilometres to fill a gap in European arsenals.
The deployment and manufacture of this type of missiles in the U.S. and Russia was previously banned in the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty) between the States and the Soviet Union back in 1987. However, on Oct. 20, 2018, President Donald Trump announced that he was withdrawing the U.S. from the treaty due to Russian non-compliance, and both countries formally withdrew by 2019.
Recently, Putin called to resume the production of the missiles and position them close to Europe in response to what he says is the United States deploying mid-range missiles around the world.
On a parade celebrating the Russian Navy day on July 28, Putin said that Russia will consider itself free to deploy low- and intermediate-range missiles, including in the coastal forces of the Navy, if the U.S. and Germany go forward with their plan. The flight time of their missiles to targets on Russian territory "will be about 10 minutes,” he said.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said at the press conference in Berlin on July 24 that Germany’s decision aims to protect the country from foreign aggression.
"The first thing Russia should do (to prevent Germany from hosting American weapons) is end its horrific aggressive war against Ukraine and abandon its attempt to conquer an entire country," DW reported, citing Scholz.
Putin has also repeatedly made nuclear threats against Ukraine and the West since the beginning of the full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Joseph S. Nye, Jr.
