Russia threatens to place medium-range missiles in Europe – SME.sk

by

Moscow reportedly notices that NATO wants to deploy such missiles.

MOSCOW. Russia will be forced to deploy mid-range missiles with nuclear warheads in Europe if the West refuses to enter into a moratorium banning these types of weapons on the continent as part of a package of guarantees about the crisis in Ukraine.

Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Riabkov said on Monday, Reuters reported.

As Riabkov emphasized, Moscow is currently distrusting the North Atlantic Alliance. Reuters recalls that Russia’s relations with the West are currently the worst since the fall of the Iron Curtain.

Nuclear warheads with a range of 500 to 5,500 kilometers were banned in Europe under a 1987 agreement between then-Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and US President Ronald Reagan. Washington withdrew from the agreement, claiming that Moscow had been violating it for years by developing 9M729 missiles (NATO-coded Screwdriver) with a range of 2,500 kilometers.

Related article Russia has tested the Zircon hypersonic missile Read

If NATO is right and Russia has already deployed these missiles in its European part, then Riabkov’s threats are just an empty gesture, Gerhard Mangott, an expert on Russian foreign policy and arms control from the University of Innsbruck, told Reuters.

However, if Russia does not really have these weapons deployed west of the Urals, then Moscow is “the last signal for NATO to start talks,” the expert said.

He added that “if NATO does not withdraw from its position and does not start negotiations, then Russia will certainly deploy Screwdriver missiles to its western borders.”

According to Riabkov, Moscow has noticed “indirect indications” that NATO is going to deploy medium-range missiles in Europe.

However, NATO says the United States has no plans to deploy more missiles on the continent, and is prepared to respond to new Russian missiles only by deploying conventional weapons.