Germany reacted coolly to Russia's warning about US missiles.

The German government issued an official response on July 29 to comments made by Russian President Vladimir Putin over the weekend, in which the Russian leader warned that Moscow would change its military stance if Washington deployed more medium-range cruise missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads on German soil in the coming years as planned.

"We will not allow ourselves to be intimidated by such comments," German Foreign Ministry spokesman Sebastian Fischer said at a press briefing in Berlin.

German government deputy spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann was also asked to respond. Hoffmann said Germany noted Putin's comments, but also stated that the proposed changes to the US missile deployment plan would only serve as a deterrent and were necessary given Russia's recent actions.

What did Putin say?

Speaking at a Navy Day parade in St. Petersburg on July 28, Russian President Putin said that if the United States continues its plans to deploy more weapons in Europe that could theoretically target objectives on Russian soil, Moscow will consider proportionate retaliatory measures.

The Russian leader recalled the arms race of the early 1980s, at the end of the Cold War, when Pershing II missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads were deployed in then-West Germany. Putin warned of the risk of a similar phenomenon repeating itself.

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks at a naval parade commemorating Navy Day in St. Petersburg, July 28, 2024. Photo: RFE/RL

"The announcements by the US and German governments regarding plans to deploy US long-range precision missile systems in Germany starting in 2026 have attracted attention," the state news agency TASS quoted Putin as saying.

"If the US implements such plans, we will free ourselves from the previous unilateral moratorium on the deployment of medium- and short-range offensive weapons, including the enhancement of the capabilities of our Navy's coastal defense forces," the Russian president warned.

According to DW, Putin is referring here to the terms of the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty – from which the US and subsequently Russia withdrew in 2019. Both sides blame each other for violating the treaty's provisions.

According to Putin, Russia has remained compliant with its terms since withdrawing from the treaty, but the situation would change if the US deployed more weapons in Germany.

The INF Treaty banned all short- and medium-range (land-based) nuclear missiles and cruise missiles with a range of 500-5,500 km – weapons that primarily pose a threat to European security.

During a meeting with the Russian Security Council in June, Putin reiterated that in 2019, Moscow had pledged not to produce and deploy such systems as long as Washington did not deploy them anywhere in the world.

"Currently, it is known that the US not only produces these missile systems but also uses them in exercises in Europe, in Denmark. Not long ago, it was announced that they are in the Philippines. There is no information on whether these missiles have been moved from there," Putin said during the meeting.

"Open secret"

In Europe, according to a joint statement issued by Washington and Berlin on July 10, the US will begin deploying weapons in Germany in 2026, including SM-6 missiles, an improved Tomahawk cruise missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads, and several "hypersonic weapons under development," including those with significantly longer ranges than those currently deployed across Europe.

The U.S. and Germany argue that this move is a response to developments such as Russia deploying Iskander missiles, capable of carrying nuclear warheads, in the Kaliningrad exclave, which borders Poland and Lithuania. Russia neither denies nor confirms that it has deployed nuclear weapons in Kaliningrad.

"What we are planning now is a response aimed at preventing the use of these weapons against Germany or other targets," German Foreign Ministry spokesman Sebastian Fischer said on July 29.

Ramstein Air Base, a US military base, is located near Kaiserslautern in the Rhineland-Pfalz state of Germany. Photo: Military.com

There have been a number of American military bases in Germany, a legacy of the post-World War II and subsequent Cold War eras. Many American missiles, albeit with shorter ranges, are officially deployed in this Western European country.

It is also an "open secret"—though no government officially acknowledges it—that the U.S. still maintains nuclear weapons at one of its bases in Germany, down from two sites in the years and decades before 2005.

However, the number of weapons still deployed in Germany and several other European countries has decreased significantly compared to the peak of the Cold War.

Minh Duc (According to DW, TASS)

Source: https://www.nguoiduatin.vn/duc-phan-ung-lanh-nhat-truc-canh-bao-cua-nga-ve-ten-lua-my-204240730160031104.htm