Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Riabkob said yesterday (Monday) that Russia may be forced to deploy medium-range nuclear missiles in Europe in response to what it considers to be of NATO to do the same.
The tension present between East and West in Europe is the worst since the Cold War ended before Three decades.
Ryabkov said Russia would be forced to act in this way if the West, with its emphasis on the United States, continued to refuse to sign a freeze agreement on a number of medium-range nuclear warheads (INF) in Europe.
Pro-Russian separatists on the Ukrainian border: "Do not see the end of the crisis" // Photo: Reuters
In his remarks to the Russian news agency RIA: "The lack of progress towards a political and diplomatic solution will lead Russia to respond militarily, with military technology."
"I mean, it will be a confrontation, it will be the next round," he said, referring to the potential deployment of the missiles by Russia.
These remarks by the Russian deputy foreign minister join his further statement from recent days regarding relations with the US, when in an interview with the newspaper Izvestia this week, he said that Russia sees no progress in relations with the United States other than opening structured dialogues on arms and cyber security.
Biden and Putin meeting.
Moscow sees no progress in relations beyond arms and cyber agreements, Photo: Reuters
The agreement on a medium-term ban on nuclear weapons
Medium-range nuclear weapons of 500 to 5,500 km were banned in Europe under a 1987 agreement between then-Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and US President Ronald Reagan. 2,700 of those missiles in their possession.
Washington withdrew from the agreement in 2019 after complaining for years about alleged violations by Moscow over the development of the 9M729 cruise missile that NATO calls the "screwdriver". To the Ural Mountains.
Cruise missile system 9M729 which, according to NATO, Russia has placed near the European border, Photo: Reuters
According to Gerhard Mangot, a Russian foreign policy and arms control expert at Innsbruck, Austria: "If Russia's denials are true, then Moscow's warning is the final signal to NATO that it must enter into talks with Moscow on a freeze agreement." He added: "If NATO stands "In a position not to negotiate a deal, then we will surely see Russia deploy the screwdriver missile on its western border."
Denial of planning for an invasion alongside pressure on the West
In recent days, Ryabkov has served as one of Moscow's key envoys, amid pressure from President Vladimir Putin for security guarantees from the West, in exchange for a withdrawal from a possible invasion plan for Ukraine.
At the same time, the deputy minister continues to deny that there is any Russian planning to escalate the situation at the border and he compared the current tensions to the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, which brought the United States and the Soviet Union to the brink of nuclear war.
Russian tanks on their way to the border with Ukraine.
Moscow denies possible invasion,
He further claimed that Moscow had "indirect indications" that NATO was about to redeploy medium-range cruise missiles, including the restoration of the 56th Artillery Command, which operated nuclear-capable MGM-31 ballistic missiles during the Cold War. Officials NATO denies the allegations and claims they intend to deter new Russian missiles with a "measured" response that would include only conventional weapons.
Ryabkov stressed that Russia has a complete lack of confidence in the Western alliance: "They believe they can act the way they want, for their own good, and we just have to swallow it all and deal with it. It will not continue that way."
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