MOSCOW (AP) – Russia has declared it no longer considers itself to be bound by a voluntary moratorium on the deployment of nuclear-enabled intermediate-range missiles. tension Between Moscow and Washington, it rises again onto Ukraine.
In a statement Monday, the Russian Foreign Ministry combined the decision with efforts by the US and its allies to develop intermediate range weapons and preparations for deployment in Europe and elsewhere in the world. It specifically cited plans to deploy typhoons and Dark Eagle missiles in Germany starting next year.
The ministry said such actions by the US and its allies would create “potentially unstable missiles” near Russia, create “a direct threat to our country’s security” and “significant detrimental consequences to regional and global stability, including dangerous escalation of tensions between nuclear forces.”
He didn’t say what specific moves the Kremlin would take, but the president was Vladimir Putin It has previously announced that Moscow is planning to deploy it New Oreshnik missile Later this year, in Belarus’ territory of neighbors and allies.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he was asked where Russia could potentially deploy intermediate range weapons.
“Russia has no restrictions anymore. Russia no longer thinks it is constrained by anything,” Peskov told reporters. “Therefore, we believe Russia has the right to take each of its actions as necessary.”
“Decisions regarding specific parameters of response measures are made by the leadership of the Russian Federation, based on inter-sectoral analysis of the scale of deployment of land-land missiles in the US and other western countries, and based on the development of the overall situation in the field of international safety and strategic stability,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Russia’s move continues with Trump’s nuclear message
Russia’s statement continues with the president Donald Trump’s announcement On Friday, he ordered the relocation of two US nuclear submarines “based on a very provocative statement” by Putin President Dmitry Medvedev, 2008-12, to be held captive by time limits and later allowed him to return to his office. Trump’s statement came later this week as the Kremlin deadline for reaching a peace deal with a Ukrainian approach.
Trump said he was wary of Medvedev’s attitude. Medvedev, vice-chairman of Putin’s Russian Security Council, appears to have tried to curry favor with his leaders by making provocative statements and frequently taking away the nuclear threat. last week. He responded to Trump’s deadline to face sanctions by warning that Russia would accept a peace deal in Ukraine or “play an ultimatum game with Russia,” and declared that “each new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war.”
Medvedev also commented on the Foreign Ministry’s statement, describing Moscow’s withdrawal from the Moscow moratorium as “the result of NATO countries’ anti-Russian policies.”
“This is a new reality that our opponents have to consider all,” he wrote to X. “Look for more steps.”
The INF treaty was abandoned in 2019
Medium-range missiles can fly between 500 and 5,500 kilometers (310 to 3,400 miles). Such land weapons were banned under the 1987 Medium Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. Washington and Moscow waived the agreement in 2019 and condemned each other for violations, but Moscow declared a voluntary suspension in their deployment until the US made such a move.
The collapse of the INF treaty surprised fears of reviving the Cold War era European missile crisis when the US and the Soviet Union deployed medium missiles on the continent in the 1980s. Such weapons are particularly considered destabilising as they take less time to reach targets compared to intercontinental ballistic missiles, leaving decision-makers behind time and increasing the likelihood of a global nuclear conflict over false launch warnings.
The chief of the Russian missile force declared in November that the new Oleshnik intermediate range missile, which Russia first used against Ukraine, had range to reach all Europe. The Oreshnik can carry traditional or nuclear warheads.
Putin praises Oreshnik’s capabilities, saying multiple warheads plunging into targets at speeds up to Mach 10 will be intercepted, and using some of them on one traditional strike could be as devastating as a nuclear attack.
Putin warned the West that Moscow could use it against Ukrainian NATO allies who allowed them to use their long-range missiles to use longer-range missiles within Russia.
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