Under the decision announced at the NATO 75th anniversary summit, long-range US missiles will be deployed permanently in Germany from 2026, for the first time since the Cold War.
Cruise Tomahawk, SM-6 and Hypersonic The missile has a significantly longer range than existing missiles.The United States and Germany said in a joint statement.
Such missiles were banned under a 1988 treaty between the United States and the former Soviet Union, but the pact collapsed five years ago.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Moscow would respond with “military measures to the new threat”.
“This is just one link in a chain of escalating tensions,” he argued, accusing NATO and the United States of trying to intimidate Russia.
The joint statement between the United States and Germany said the “phased” missile deployment was initially intended to be temporary but would eventually become permanent, as part of the United States’ commitment to NATO and European “comprehensive deterrence.”
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, speaking at the NATO summit in Washington, said the idea behind the US plan was to encourage Germany and other European countries to invest in the development and procurement of long-range missiles.
He explained that the temporary US weapons deployment would give NATO allies time to prepare: “We are talking about an increasingly serious capability gap in Europe.”
Such missiles were banned under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, signed at the end of the Cold War and applied to ground-launched missiles that could fly between 500 and 5,500 km (310 and 3,400 miles).
Russian President Vladimir Putin felt the treaty was too restrictive, and in 2014 the United States accused him of violating the treaty with a new nuclear-capable cruise missile.
The United States eventually withdrew from the treaty in 2019, and Russia followed suit.
German Green Party politicians have criticised Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s deal to allow the deployment of US missiles on German soil.
The Greens are part of Mr Scholz’s governing coalition, and the party’s security spokeswoman Sara Nanni made clear their disappointment that he had not commented on the decision.
“It could even increase fear and create opportunities for misinformation and hysteria,” she told the Rheinische Post newspaper.
