Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov suggested in an interview on Wednesday that Russia may move forward with new nuclear weapons deployments in response to the U.S.’s long-range missiles and hypersonic weapons stationed in Germany.
Russian officials have repeatedly said they would not immediately rule out using nuclear weapons if necessary to defend the regime of dictator Vladimir Putin against a possible NATO attack or an escalation of Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine is not a NATO military ally, but NATO countries are directly involved in the Ukrainian war through their military support for Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was a special guest at NATO’s annual summit in Washington this month, where President Joe Biden introduced him as “Putin.”
Ryabkov is Interfax This was communicated to news agencies on Thursday and was in response to the July 10 announcement that the US would be deploying more weapons in Germany.
“I’m not ruling out any options,” he said. translation By The Moscow TimesRussia has reportedly indicated it is open to further nuclear deployments to ensure it has the “widest possible range of options.”
“Given the combined capabilities of NATO allies, we need to coordinate our response without internal checks on what to deploy, where and when,” he argued.
Russian news agency TASS Quote Ryabkov told reporters on Thursday that his comments suggested Russia was preparing “various scenarios, including negative ones” in response to any U.S. action.
“But nothing has been decided yet. [US strategic] Bomber [B-52] “No decision has been finalized yet, so there is still time to consider the various options,” he said, “and then determine the most effective and least costly response on the ground in Europe, as well as the response to the joint German-U.S. activity in Europe.”
Similarly, Russian Ambassador to Berlin Sergei Nechayev Said The TASS news agency said on Thursday that the US move to station missiles in Germany was a “risk” and that Russia would take an “appropriate response.”
TASS quoted Nechayev as saying.
The joint US-Germany statement merely reaffirms Washington’s destabilising policy after its irresponsible undermining of the INF (Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, TASS) regime, from which the US unilaterally withdrew in 2019.
“Germany serves as a key pillar of NATO in Europe by unquestioningly supporting the White House’s policies, despite the obvious military and political risks,” he continued.
The diplomat’s comments were significantly more subdued than those made by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov shortly after the United States announced it had deployed new missiles in Germany.
“We have ample capabilities to contain these missiles, but the potential victims are the capitals of these countries. [in Europe]” Peskov warned.
“Europe is fragmenting. Europe is not living in the best of times. If circumstances change, history will inevitably repeat itself,” he lamented.
The White House said in a statement on July 10 that the US military action that appears to have sparked the outrage would begin in 2026.
“The United States will begin a phased deployment of Multi-Domain Task Force long-range fires capabilities to Germany in 2026,” the White House said. Confirmed “When fully developed, these conventional long-range fire units will include SM-6, Tomahawk and hypersonic weapons under development, which will have significantly longer ranges than current European land-based fires,” it said in a statement with Germany.
“The use of these advanced capabilities demonstrates U.S. commitment to NATO and its contribution to Europe’s integrated deterrent,” the statement concluded.
The NATO summit in early July concluded with the release of a NATO Declaration that strongly emphasized the importance the Alliance attaches to nuclear weapons.
“Nuclear deterrence is the cornerstone of the Alliance’s security,” the declaration states. read“As long as nuclear weapons exist, NATO will remain a nuclear alliance. … NATO remains committed to taking all necessary measures to ensure the credibility, effectiveness, safety and security of the Alliance’s nuclear deterrent mission.”
The declaration also condemned Russia’s “irresponsible nuclear rhetoric and coercive nuclear signals that demonstrate strategic intimidation, including the announcement of the deployment of nuclear weapons in Belarus.”
“Russia continues to diversify its nuclear forces by increasing its reliance on nuclear weapons systems and by developing new nuclear systems and fielding short- and medium-range dual-strike capabilities,” the declaration added, “all of which poses an increasing threat to the Alliance.”
Russia announced the tactical nuclear exercises in May, saying they were necessary in response to “inflammatory rhetoric” from the West and to “practice the use of non-strategic nuclear weapons.” Prior to the exercises, Putin himself had repeatedly suggested he would consider using nuclear weapons if he felt sufficiently threatened.
“Russia will do everything in its power to avoid a global conflict. At the same time, we will not allow anyone to threaten us. Our strategic forces will always be on combat readiness,” Putin said in May at the annual Victory Day parade marking the end of World War II. The word “strategic” here usually refers to nuclear weapons.
In March, Putin was reported as saying in an interview with French President Emmanuel Macron that “those countries that say there are no red lines with Russia should realize that Russia has no red lines with them, either.”
Putin’s most combative aide, Dmitry Medvedev, a former president and deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, suggested in February that “any attempt to return Russia to its 1991 borders will have only one result: a global war with the West using all of our strategic arsenals — in Kiev, Berlin, London and Washington.”
