RTThu, 11 Jul 2024 10:19 UTC
© Sputnik / Alexey AgarishevFILE PHOTO: Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov.
Washington's announcement could revive the arms race and deal a blow to global stability, Ambassador Anatoly Antonov has said
US plans to deploy long-range missiles in Europe are a threat to global security and could pave the way for an escalation of already tense relations between Moscow and NATO, Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov has said.
On Wednesday, the US and Germany issued a joint statement that Washington "will begin episodic deployments of the long-range fires capabilities of its Multi-Domain Task Force in Germany in 2026, as part of planning for enduring stationing of these capabilities in the future."The systems will include SM-6 and Tomahawk missiles with ranges of up to 460km and 2,400km, respectively, as well as developmental hypersonic weapons, according to Washington. The assets have a "significantly longer range than current land-based fires in Europe," the statement added.
In a post on Telegram on Thursday, Antonov denounced the move as "a serious mistake by Washington." "Such extremely destabilizing steps are a direct threat to international security and strategic stability," he said.
The envoy stressed that the planned deployment "increases the risks of a missile arms race," adding that it could unleash "uncontrolled escalation amid dangerously soaring Russia-NATO tensions."
Antonov also said that Russia has always sought to reduce the risks posed by disagreements over missile capabilities. "Instead of the desire for peace that Russia has demonstrated many times, the Americans have embarked on the dangerous path of militarism," according to the ambassador.
He emphasized that Russia's tolerance for encroachments on its security is "not unlimited."
"Doesn't Germany understand that the emergence of American missile assets on German soil will lead to these facilities ending up in Russian crosshairs? This is not saber-rattling, it is the simple logic of a normal person," Antonov explained.
He went on to blast the US for not thinking about how to minimize the fallout from the collapse of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF). Signed in 1987 at the end of the Cold War, it barred Moscow and Washington from possessing many types of nuclear and conventional missiles with ranges of 500 to 5,500km.
The US unilaterally withdrew from the treaty in 2019, citing alleged Russian non-compliance, a charge denied in Moscow. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov suggested earlier this week that the US pulled out of the agreement to create formerly banned missile systems to put pressure on China.
At the same time, Russia has said that it intends to keep abiding by the INF's terms, but warned that it could reverse that policy if Washington starts deploying missiles covered by the treaty in any region of the world.
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From the same source:
11 Jul, 2024 12:16
Russia vows 'military response' to US missile deployment plans
Moscow views Washington's move as a method of intimidation, its Deputy Foreign Minister has said
Russia will calmly prepare a military response to US plans to station long-range missiles in Germany, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on Thursday.
Washington announced plans on Wednesday to start deploying long-range weapons in Germany in 2026, including SM-6 and Tomahawk systems, "as part of planning for enduring stationing of these capabilities in the future."
The latest American plans are just another escalation of tensions by the West and "one of the elements of intimidation, which today is almost the main component of the NATO and US" approach towards Russia, Ryabkov said.
Land-based missiles with a range between 500km and 5,500km were banned on European soil under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty, signed by Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev in 1987. In 2019, the US pulled out of the Cold War-era pact, accusing Moscow of having violated it.
Ryabkov said deploying US missiles to Germany is primarily aimed at damaging Russia's security.
"Without nerves, without emotions, we will develop, first of all, a military response to this new game," the diplomat said, adding that the Russian military had already "taken this message to task."
The weapons systems to be deployed in Germany will include the SM-6 anti-air missile, which has a range of up to 460km, and the Tomahawk cruise missile, which can reportedly strike targets more than 2,500km away.
Berlin and Washington released a joint statement announcing the plan following talks at NATO's annual summit in Washington.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that Moscow would respond in kind to Washington's deployment of intermediate and shorter-range missiles. In June, the president said that Russia might resume production of previously banned missile systems, citing the "hostile actions" of the US.
Does the US think that creating more tensions in Europe with the deployment will help European businesses and capital to shift to the "safe haven" of the US or help convince the tax payers to pay more for defence and and thus help to support the Military Industrial Complex, see
NATO preparing for 'protracted wars' - Pentagon?
Is the US hoping to maintain its control of the vassals within Europe and prevent them from joining up with the rest of Eurasia?
Is it, as some bureaucrats. politicians and the media might say, to protect western values, freedom, equality, democracy, the rule of law, .... ?
Or is it rather to put the citizens in a state of fear that will make them more controllable?
A result of this move might be that more people in Europe will come to realize that the direction events are heading, is not what they would like, and peace movements will become stronger.
Comment:
From the same source:
11 Jul, 2024 12:16 Does the US think that creating more tensions in Europe with the deployment will help European businesses and capital to shift to the "safe haven" of the US or help convince the tax payers to pay more for defence and and thus help to support the Military Industrial Complex, see NATO preparing for 'protracted wars' - Pentagon?
Is the US hoping to maintain its control of the vassals within Europe and prevent them from joining up with the rest of Eurasia?
Is it, as some bureaucrats. politicians and the media might say, to protect western values, freedom, equality, democracy, the rule of law, .... ?
Or is it rather to put the citizens in a state of fear that will make them more controllable?
A result of this move might be that more people in Europe will come to realize that the direction events are heading, is not what they would like, and peace movements will become stronger.