Russian President Vladimir Putin today suggested the need to restore production of short- and medium-range missiles in response to US actions.
“Obviously, we should start preparing these offensive systems and then, based on the actual situation, decide where to deploy them if our security needs to be guaranteed,” the Kremlin leader told a meeting with Security Council members.
Putin said Washington pulled out of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty a few years ago to eliminate short- and medium-range missiles “under fabricated pretexts.”
“We announced in 2019 that we will not manufacture these missiles and will not use them if the United States does not do so in other regions,” the Russian president said.
At the same time, he said, “it is known today that the United States not only manufactures these missile systems, but has already brought them to Europe for exercises,” adding to rising tensions between Moscow and Washington and NATO allies. Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“We have to react to this and decide how we are going to act in this situation,” he stressed.
Last May, the Russian Foreign Ministry had already warned that Moscow might strengthen its short- and medium-range missile program in response to “NATO’s increasingly aggressive actions.”
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