Russian Defence Minister warns US against deploying missiles in Europe

If the United States deploys missiles in Europe contrary to the INF Treaty, Russia will "respond appropriately," Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoygu said.

Shoygu warned the United States against deploying intermediate and shorter-range missiles in Europe.

"We have committed ourselves not to deploy such weapons provided that they are not deployed in Europe. That is, we will not do this either. Should they be deployed, we will respond appropriately, of course," Shoygu said in an interview with Tengrinews.

In October 2020, Robert O'Brien, then National Security Adviser to the US President, said that the United States could deploy intermediate and shorter-range missiles in Europe to "deter" Russia. He said that the US could make such a move to achieve peace through force, which would give Washington an opportunity not only to repel possible attacks, but to implement the idea of ​​arms control in the future.

• The United States and Russia signed the INF Treaty in 1987; it came into force on June 1, 1988. The parties undertook to destroy all complexes of ground-based ballistic and cruise missiles of medium (1000-5500 km) and shorter (500-1000 km) range, including all launchers and ground-based missiles with a range of 500 to 5500 km. The production, testing and deployment of those types of weapons was prohibited.
• In the summer of 2019, the United States pulled out from the INF Treaty. The White House said that Russia had 9M729 missiles that could be launched from Iskander-M launchers. The United States claimed that the destruction radius of the missile exceeded 500 km, which violated the treaty. The Russian authorities, in turn, announced that the Tomahawk missiles, which the INF Treaty prohibited, could be launched from Mk-41 systems that the United States deployed in Romania.

It is worthy of note that in the interview with Tengrinews, Russian Defence Minister Shoygu set out his hope for the restoration of full-fledged and equal dialogue between the two countries.

"Indeed, we should talk, there is an urgent and extreme need in this. From our end, we have made all the steps and all the statements," he said.