Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday called for the resumption of production of intermediate-range missiles, banned under a now-abandoned treaty with the United States.
The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, which bans ground-based nuclear and conventional missiles with a range of 500 to 5,500 kilometers, was seen as a milestone in arms control when Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and US President Ronald Reagan signed it in 1988.
The United States withdrew from the treaty in 2019, citing Russian violations.
At a meeting of Russia’s National Security Council, Putin said it was necessary to begin production of these missiles and “make decisions on where to place them, if this is necessary to guarantee our security.”
Mr. Putin said that Russia had not produced such missile systems since abandoning the treaty in 2019, but that “today it is known that the United States not only produces these missile systems, but have already brought them to Europe for exercises, to Denmark.
He added that recently they would be in the Philippines.
The end of the INF marked a significant step in the deterioration of relations between the United States and Russia.
The latest arms control agreement between Washington and Moscow is the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which limits each country to a maximum of 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and 700 deployed missiles and bombers. It is set to expire in 2026, and the lack of dialogue on setting a successor deal worries arms control advocates.
