MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday warned to restart the production of intermediate-range nuclear weapons if the United States confirmed its intention to deploy missiles to Germany or elsewhere in Europe.
Putin’s statement, made during a naval parade in Saint Petersburg, underscores escalating tensions between Russia and the West over nuclear arms control.
Putin’s threat comes in response to recent announcements by Washington and Berlin regarding the deployment of long-range US missiles to Germany starting in 2026. The proposed deployment includes Tomahawk cruise missiles, which have sparked concern in Moscow due to their potential reach and strategic implications.
“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. He said that the deployment of these missiles could lead Russia to end its self-imposed moratorium on producing intermediate-range nuclear weapons, which had been in place since the dissolution of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.
The INF Treaty, signed in 1987 by the United States and the Soviet Union, was a landmark arms control agreement aimed at eliminating intermediate-range missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers (300-3,400 miles). However, both nations withdrew from the treaty in 2019, citing violations by the other party. Since then, Russia has maintained that it would refrain from producing such missiles as long as the US did not deploy them abroad.
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Putin warned that the US missiles could target “important Russian administrative and military sites” and could be equipped with nuclear warheads, placing Russian territories within a striking distance of about 10 minutes. This scenario, according to Putin, echoes the Cold War-era tension related to the deployment of American Pershing missiles in Europe.
Earlier, the Kremlin had indicated that the proposed US missile deployments would make European capitals potential targets for Russian strikes. This position aligns with the broader geopolitical and military standoff between Russia and Western countries.
