Putin Warns "If US Missiles Are Deployed in Germany, Russia Will Respond in Kind"

"Fired from Germany, reaches Russian territory within 10 minutes
Current situation reminiscent of Cold War missile crisis"

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on the 28th (local time) that if the United States deploys long-range missiles in Germany, Russia will also stop its moratorium on deploying medium- and short-range missiles.

Russian President Vladimir Putin
[Photo by AP]

According to Russian media Sputnik and others, President Putin said at the Navy Day ceremony held in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on the same day, "If the United States implements such plans, we will consider withdrawing from the unilateral moratorium on the deployment of medium- and short-range strike weapons that we previously adopted."

Earlier, the United States and Germany announced in a joint statement on the 10th that the U.S. would deploy long-range missiles such as the SM-6 (ship-based air defense missile), Tomahawk (cruise missile), and hypersonic weapons under development in Germany starting in 2026.

Regarding this, President Putin said that Russia’s important national and military administrative facilities, administrative and industrial centers, and defense infrastructure are within the range of such weapons, adding, "The flight time for such missiles, which can be equipped with nuclear warheads in the future, to reach our territory will be about 10 minutes." He continued, "We will take 'mirror measures' for deployment, considering the actions of the United States and its European and other global satellite states."

He also said that the development of strike systems that can be deployed in response to the U.S. missile deployment in Germany is in its final stages. He pointed out, "This situation reminds us of the Cold War-era incident related to the deployment of U.S. Pershing II missiles in Europe." This refers to the 1983 incident when the U.S. deployed Pershing II missiles capable of striking Moscow in West Germany, provoking opposition from the Soviet leadership.

During the Cold War in 1987, the United States and the former Soviet Union signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), which banned the deployment of medium- and short-range missiles, putting a brake on the nuclear arms race. However, in 2019, during the Donald Trump administration, the U.S. accused Russia of violating the agreement and declared the INF treaty void. Since then, Russia has voluntarily suspended the development of missiles banned under the INF treaty.