(Dan Tri) – Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent a tough warning to US President Donald Trump that Moscow will begin developing new nuclear missiles if the US does the same after withdrawing from a control treaty.
Russian President Vladimir Putin (Photo: Reuters)
“If Russia obtains reliable information that the United States completes the development of new missiles and begins their production, Russia will have no choice but to participate in a full-scale effort to develop
Mr. Putin issued the above warning after meeting with Russia’s National Security Council to discuss the US move to withdraw from the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, which Moscow opposed.
The Russian leader affirmed that Moscow’s arsenal of sea- and air-launched missiles, along with the development of new hypersonic missiles, will allow the country to prevent any threat emanating from the United States.
The United States officially withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty with Russia on August 2 after claiming that Moscow violated the treaty and deployed a banned missile, an accusation that
The INF treaty bans the development of ground-launched missiles with a range of 500-5,500km, reducing the ability of both countries to launch a nuclear attack at short notice.
President Putin yesterday ordered the Ministries of Defense and Foreign Affairs and Russia’s SVR Foreign Intelligence Service to closely monitor any US steps to develop, produce or deploy missiles banned under
However, Mr. Putin said that Russia and the United States, the two powers possessing the world’s largest nuclear arsenals, need to resume negotiations to prevent what he called an uncontrollable arms race.
“To avoid chaos, without regulations, limits or laws, we once again need to consider all serious consequences and conduct serious and decisive negotiations clearly,” Mr. Putin said.
US officials say the United States is months away from conducting the first tests of a new intermediate-range missile that could serve a purpose against Russia, and any deployment would take several years.
Unnamed officials from US President Donald Trump’s administration accused Russia of deploying multiple battalions of a cruise missile across the country, violating the INF treaty, including in the western region of the country.
Moscow has rejected the allegations, saying the long range of airborne missiles is not within the scope of the treaty, and rejected Washington’s request to destroy the new Novator 9M729 missile, which the NATO military alliance calls
Peaceful
