Putin threatened to place supersonic nuclear weapons near the US

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia is ready for a new Caribbean-type crisis if the United States wants to create one, and threatened to place supersonic nuclear weapons on ships and submarines near American territorial waters, writes “Voice of America«.

The Caribbean crisis erupted in 1962, when Moscow responded to the deployment of American missiles in Turkey, sending ballistic missiles to Cuba. This provoked a confrontation, because of which the world was on the verge of a nuclear war.

More than fifty years later, tensions in bilateral relations are growing again. Russia fears that the United States may deploy medium-range nuclear missiles in Europe, and the arms control agreement concluded during the Cold War times collapses.

On Wednesday, Putin warned that if Washington places new missiles near its borders, Russia will deploy its own missiles closer to the United States.

Now Putin - in a conversation with Russian journalists after his speech to the legislators - for the first time specified the details of his threat, noting that Russia could deploy supersonic missiles on ships and submarines that would be near US territorial waters if Washington deployed medium-range nuclear weapons in Europe .

“These are sea carriers - submarines or surface ships. And they can be delivered at such speeds and at such a range ... in neutral waters, just in the ocean, the president said. “Plus, they are not yet in the territory, they are moving, they still need to be discovered ... Here count: one thousand kilometers - nine Machs”.

Analyst from the center of the Arms Control Association Kingston Reef believes that Putin may be trying to show that Russia is able to keep up with the United States in order to divert attention from internal problems or shift the blame for the breakdown of the INF.

“Perhaps he is also trying to say: listen, none of the parties should want such a world (with a new arms race), so let’s sit down and resume the discussion,” the expert believes.

Putin stressed that Russia does not want a new arms race, but it will have no other choice if Washington will deploy new missiles in Europe. According to the Russian leader, some of them are able to reach Moscow in 10-12 minutes.

At the moment, the United States does not have ground-based medium-range nuclear missiles that could be deployed in Europe, but they can be developed and deployed if DSMD will not be able to save.

According to Putin, Russia can inflict a blow to the USA faster than American missiles stationed in Europe — Moscow, since Russian missiles have less time to fly.

“Ten to twelve minutes is the flying time to Moscow, and how much will it be to decision-making centers that create certain threats for us?” - he asked. “It will not be in their favor, anyway, today.”

“There are mutual claims, different approaches to solving various problems, and mutual claims, but this is not a reason to bring the matter to some sort of confrontation at the level of the Caribbean crisis of 60 of the last century,” said the Russian leader. - If someone wants there, then please. I called today what will be. Let them count. ”

The agreement signed in 1987 between the USSR and the USA is one of the most important agreements that ensured a state of "strategic stability" in the world, which practically guaranteed that a nuclear war would not start. Now this state is under threat.

The reason for the US claims against Russia was the 9М729 cruise missile, which can be launched from Iskander-M installations. US National Intelligence Director Daniel Coates said earlier that by the year 2015 Russia had conducted flight tests and deployed missiles whose range does not meet the requirements of the treaty. Moscow, in turn, believes that the rocket does not violate the provisions of the INF.

What is the INF?

• The Treaty on Medium and Short Range Missiles, signed by the USA and the USSR in 1987, prohibited all complexes of nuclear and non-nuclear ground-based missiles with an average (1000-5500 km) and a smaller (500-1000 km) radius of action.
• The US was worried about the deployment of the SS-20 missile system, and in response, America deployed Pershing missiles and cruise missiles in Europe, triggering large-scale protest reactions.
• By 1991, about 2700 missiles were destroyed.
• In May, 2007, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, stated that "the treaty is no longer effective, since dozens of states have emerged that have such missiles." In the same year, Vladimir Putin declared the need to make the INF Treaty multilateral, but then the administration of Barack Obama showed no interest in the Moscow initiative.
• In 2002, the United States withdrew from the treaty on the limitation of missile defense systems.