Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday (28.06.2024) suggested the need to resume production of short- and medium-range missiles, in response to steps taken by the United States.
“It seems that we need to start producing these attack systems and then, based on the real situation, decide where to deploy them, if that is necessary to ensure our security,” the Kremlin chief said at a meeting with members of the Russian Security Council.
Putin added that a few years ago Washington withdrew under a “fabricated pretext” from the INF Treaty for the elimination of short- and medium-range missiles.
“We announced in 2019 that we would not produce these missiles and we would not deploy them if the US did not do so in other regions,” said the Russian president.
At the same time, “it is now known that the United States not only produces these missile systems, but has already brought them to Europe for exercises,” he said.
“We have to react to that and make a decision on how we are going to proceed in this situation,” he insisted.
Last May, the Russian Foreign Ministry had said that Moscow could boost its short- and medium-range missile program in response to “increasingly aggressive actions by NATO.”
gs (efe, ap, afp)
