Putin: Russia Must Respond to US Actions, Necessary to Start Production of INF Systems

Jun 28, 2024

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Russia must respond to the actions of the United States and it seems that it is necessary for the country to start the production of intermediate-range nuclear forces (INF) strike systems, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday.

“We need to respond to this and make decisions about what we will have to do in this direction next. Apparently, we need to start manufacturing these systems and then, based on the actual situation, make decisions about where – if necessary to ensure our safety – to deploy them,” Putin said at an operational meeting with the permanent members of the Russian Security Council.

The United States not only produces INF, but also brings them to Europe, the president said.

“In 2019, we announced that we would not produce these missiles, and we would not deploy them until the United States deployed these systems in some region of the world. Today it is known that the United States not only produces these missile systems, but has already brought them to Europe for drills, to Denmark,” Putin said at an operational meeting with the permanent members of the Russian Security Council.

Currently it is unknown whether the US removed the medium- and short-range missiles from Philippines, where they were previously delivered as part of drills, Putin said.

In an earlier interview with Sputnik, Russian Foreign Minster Sergey Lavrov spoke on the developments regarding US deploying ground-based intermediate and shorter-range missiles in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.

“The implementation of US plans to deploy ground-based INF missiles will not go unanswered by us. Specifically, in this scenario, the abandonment of unilateral self-imposed restrictions introduced by Russia after a US withdrawal from the INF Treaty is inevitable,” the minister noted.

The INF treaty, signed between the Soviet Union and the US in 1987, banned the countries from developing and possessing ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges from 500-5,500 kilometers. In 2019, former US President Donald Trump withdrew from the treaty. In early July 2019, President Vladimir Putin signed the law on the suspension of the treaty. The next month, it ceased to exist.

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