Kremlin warns Russia could target Europe if US deploys missiles

In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reacts as he visits the Oranienbaum Palace and Park on the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland, part of the Peterhof State Museum Reserve, in Saint Petersburg on July 11, 2024. Agence France-Presse

MOSCOW — The Kremlin on Saturday warned that the deployment of US missiles in Germany could make European capitals targets for Russian missiles in a repeat of Cold War-style confrontation.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov spoke of a “paradox” in which “Europe is a target for our missiles, our country is a target for US missiles in Europe”.

“We have enough capacity to contain these missiles but the potential victims are the capitals of these countries,” he said, speaking to Russian state television channel Russia 1.

READ: Russia blames US for deadly missile attack on Crimea

Peskov also hinted that such a confrontation could undermine Europe as a whole — in the same way that the Cold War ended with the Soviet Union’s collapse.

“Europe is coming apart. Europe is not living its best moment. In a different configuration, a repeat of history is inevitable,” he said.

The White House announced on Wednesday during a NATO summit that it would periodically station long-range weapons including Tomahawk cruise missiles in Germany from 2026 as a deterrent.

READ: Nato begins sending F-16 jets in new support for Ukraine

“Exercising these advanced capabilities will demonstrate the United States’ commitment to NATO and its contributions to European integrated deterrence,” the White House said.

‘It’s securing peace’

The Kremlin has already criticized the move, accusing Washington of taking a step towards a new Cold War and of directly participating in the conflict in Ukraine.

Russia’s defense ministry on Friday said that Defense Minister Andrei Belousov held a telephone call with his US counterpart Lloyd Austin where they discussed lowering the risk of “possible escalation”.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has hailed the US decision despite criticism from members of his Social Democrats.

The decision marks a return of US cruise missiles to Germany after a 20-year absence.

Defending the decision, Scholz told reporters at the NATO summit that it was “something of deterrence and it’s securing peace, and it is a necessary and important decision at the right time.”

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told broadcaster Deutschlandfunk that the deployment decision addressed a “very serious gap” in the country’s capabilities.

Responding to the Kremlin’s warning that the US missile deployment could put European capitals at risk, a US State Department spokesperson said the United States and NATO “do not seek a military conflict with Russia… but any military action directed against a NATO Ally would trigger an overwhelming response”.

Russia is “the most significant and direct threat to Allies’ security and to peace and stability in the Euro-Atlantic area”, the spokesperson said, adding it was “Russia that started this war and Russia could end it today”.

The German army does not have long-range missiles that launch from the ground, only cruise missiles that can be fired by aircraft.

The 1980s deployment of US Pershing ballistic missiles in West Germany at the height of the Cold War prompted widespread demonstrations, with hundreds of thousands coming out in pacifist protest.

US missiles continued to be stationed through the reunification of Germany and into the 1990s.

But following the end of the Cold War, the United States significantly reduced the numbers of missiles stationed in Europe as the threat from Moscow receded.

Now NATO countries — spearheaded by the United States — have been bolstering their defences in Europe following the start of Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine in 2022.