Russia’s New Nuclear Missiles (I)
Written by Alfonso Elizondo
Putin wants to regain the confidence of his people, since his popularity has fallen by almost 20% because of the terrible economic situation of the country and his unpopular social reforms. So in his annual state-of-the nation address he announced a package of economic measures to improve the lives of families and declared that he is trying to take social action.
The most relevant aspect was a very clear threat to NATO and US. Putin said that if after the US leaves the nuclear disarmament treaty, Washington places its missiles in Europe, Russia will aim its new rockets not only at the European Union but also at the US.
After the US withdrawal from the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, Putin declared that Russia is not trying to act ahead of the others, but will not hesitate to respond with his new supersonic missiles and his new nuclear submarine.
Putin accused Washington of lying and of resorting to phony excuses to abandon the INF which prohibits the development and deployment of ground-based missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 km. He said that for years since the Cold War the US has not complied with this bilateral agreement.
A few days ago, Putin launched a tough threat against NATO and asked the White House to calculate the risks of attacking and intimidating Moscow. He said that the United States has been cheating on their global agreements, so that Russia will be forced to deploy nuclear weapons, not only against the countries from which the threat is coming, but also against the countries where their military bases are located, which are the decision-making centers for using missiles to threaten Russia. Needless to say, NATO deemed Putin’s threats unacceptable.
Addendum: I will continue with the story in the next article.