Putin threatens to restart production of mid-range nuclear weapons

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a meeting at the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow, Russia, Friday, June 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

MOSCOW, Russia — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday threatened to relaunch the production of intermediate-range nuclear weapons if the United States confirmed its intention to deploy missiles to Germany or elsewhere in Europe.

“If the United States carries out such plans, we will consider ourselves liberated from the unilateral moratorium previously adopted on the deployment of medium- and short-range strike capabilities,” Putin said during a naval parade in Saint Petersburg.

Such missiles, which can travel between 500 and 5,500 kilometers (300-3,400 miles), were the subject of an arms control treaty signed by the US and the Soviet Union in 1987.

But both Washington and Moscow withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in 2019, each accusing the other of violations.

Russia subsequently said it would not restart production of such missiles as long as the United States did not deploy missiles abroad.

In early July, Washington and Berlin announced that the “episodic deployments” of long-range US missiles, including Tomahawk cruise missiles, to Germany would begin in 2026.

Putin said that “important Russian administrative and military sites” would fall within the range of such missiles that “could in the future be equipped with nuclear warheads, such that our territories would be within around 10 minutes” of a strike being launched.

“This situation reminds us of the events of the Cold War linked to the deployment of American Pershing medium-range missiles in Europe,” said Putin.

The Kremlin had already warned in mid-July that the proposed US deployment would mean that European capitals would become a target for Russian missiles.