Russia - Kreml calls US weapons plans in Germany a step 'towards a Cold War'
Russia criticized the planned stationing of US long-range weapons in Germany as a return to the Cold War. "We are on our way to a Cold War. All of this has happened before", said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov to Russian state television.
Peskov accused Germany, the US, France, and Britain of directly involvement in the conflict over Ukraine. "And all the signs of the Cold War are returning – with confrontation, with direct confrontation between adversaries", he said. "All of this is being done with the goal of undermining our country. All of this is being done to ensure our strategic defeat on the battlefield", emphasized Peskow.
Long-range weapons reach Russia
Russia must pay attention to this. "This is no reason for pessimism. On the contrary: It's an opportunity to come together and use all of our rich potential that we have to fulfill all the goals we have taken on during this special military operation." Intended is the Russian military campaign against Ukraine, with which Moscow aims to prevent Kiev's NATO membership.
Defense Minister Boris Pistorius evaluated the agreed-upon stationing of US long-range weapons in Germany as an effective contribution to deterrence against Russian aggression. In interviews with ZDF and ARD, the SPD politician made it clear on Thursday at the NATO summit in Washington that the plan was not about escalation.
"We have a new threat situation. Vladimir Putin has shown what he is capable and willing to do", said Pistorius to ZDF's "heute journal". "Since we don't have enough systems in this area, the Americans are temporarily stationing these systems until we develop our own systems with European partners."
It's about preventing any conflict through conventional deterrence. "And above all, preventing a nuclear conflict. That requires our own strength", he said.
Pistorius: "No new arms race"
To ARD's "Tagesschau", the minister said that there could be no talk of a new arms race. "Russia has had these weapons systems for a long time – and we assume, among other things, in Kaliningrad, which is in absolute range to Germany and other European nations, as Pistorius put it. "We don't want escalation."
The signal must be sent: "We are defense-capable and we are willing to defend ourselves, because we have a threat situation, and I take every concern seriously in the country." He would not speak of a majority of critical voices among the population.
At the margins of the NATO summit, the White House and the German government announced that from 2026, US weapons systems that can reach Russia will be stationed in Germany for the first time since the Cold War. From 2026, Tomahawk cruise missiles with a range of more than 2000 kilometers, SM-6 missile defense systems, and new supersonic weapons are to ensure a better protection of the NATO allies in Europe.
The former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, speaking at the NATO summit in Washington, said that if the way of Ukraine into the military alliance was considered irreversible, then Ukraine and NATO would have to disappear. Medvedev has been trying for years to establish himself as a hardliner in Russian politics with particularly provocative statements.
- Russia, echoing the sentiments of Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskow, viewed the proposed deployment of US long-range weapons in Germany as a resemblance to the Cold War era.
- Peskov, in his criticism towards Germany, the US, France, and Britain, linked the conflict over Ukraine to the return of Cold War tensions, characterized by direct confrontations between adversaries.
- At the NATO Summit, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius emphasized that the stationing of US long-range weapons in Germany was not a prelude to escalation, but rather an effective contribution to deterring Russian aggression in Ukraine.
- In response to concerns about a new arms race, Pistorius assured that there would be no escalation, highlighting that Russia already has such weapons systems and that their goal was to ensure conventional deterrence and prevent conflicts.
- Dmitry Medvedev, the former Russian President, spoke at the NATO summit in Washington, suggesting that if Ukraine's entry into NATO was deemed irreversible, both Ukraine and NATO would have to cease to exist.
