MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia will come up with a military response to the planned U.S. deployment of long-range missiles in Germany, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was quoted as saying on Thursday.
The United States and Germany said in a joint statement on Wednesday that they would begin deploying long-range fire capabilities in Germany in 2026 to demonstrate their commitment to NATO and European defence.
They said the “episodic deployments” were in preparation for longer-term stationing that would include SM-6, Tomahawk cruise missiles and hypersonic weapons that have a longer range than current capabilities in Europe.
Ryabkov called the U.S. step an escalatory move aimed at intimidating Russia.
“Without nerves, without emotions, we will develop a military response, first of all, to this new game,” the Interfax news agency quoted him as saying.
President Vladimir Putin said last month that Russia should resume production of intermediate and shorter-range nuclear-capable missiles and then consider where to deploy them, after the U.S. brought similar missiles to Europe and Asia.
(Reporting by Reuters; writing by Mark Trevelyan; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
