Putin threatens to restart production of medium-range nuclear weapons

If, as planned, the US deploys long-range missiles in Germany from 2026, Russia could resume production of medium-range nuclear weapons and station them in countries within striking distance of the West, Vladimir Putin warned on Sunday, in remarks reported by TASS.

Speaking at a parade to mark Russia’s Navy Day in St. Petersburg, Putin warned of a return to Cold War-style missile crises, and said that Russia would respond to the placement of US weapons in Germany with “mirror measures”.

“If the United States implements such plans, we will consider ourselves free from the previous unilateral moratorium on the deployment of medium- and short-range strike weapons”, Putin said.

The short- and medium-range nuclear weapons in question were banned in 1987 under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty signed by US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in a symbolic move that significantly reduced both countries’ nuclear arsenals.

The US withdrew from the treaty in 2019, accusing Russia of violating it by developing a new type of cruise missile, which Moscow denied.

Putin’s comments came following the US announcement earlier in July that it would begin “episodic deployments” of SM-6 and Tomahawk missiles and “developmental hypersonic weapons” in Germany in 2026 as part of its “commitment to NATO and its contributions to European integrated deterrence”.

That announcement drew the immediate ire of the Kremlin, with Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov accusing the West of “going the way of escalation” and “searching for far-fetched pretexts to accuse [Russia] of allegedly infringing on its security”.

Putin aide Nikolay Patrushev stressed that Russia had merely been responding to US plans, while former president and deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, told TASS that Russia’s objective was preventing the “maniacs in Washington from causing a global catastrophe”.