The president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, has warned this Monday that Russia will respond “in a timely manner” to the deployment of missiles by Western countries near its borders, although he has indicated that it does not plan to deploy medium and intermediate range missiles in its territory. .
“We do not anticipate producing or deploying medium and intermediate-range missiles in the European part of Russia or in other regions of the country. But we must be prepared to give a timely response to the deployment of missiles by Western countries near our borders,” he said. Putin in a meeting with representatives of the Russian Defense Ministry.
The president has reiterated that Russia’s approaches in the military sphere “have a purely defensive character”, before referring to “possible variants” of the geostrategic and politico-military situation. In this sense, he reported that “planning for the defense of the State for the next five years has been concluded.”
The Russian leader has described the political-military situation in the world as “difficult”, highlighting the high risks of an escalation of the situation in Transcaucasia, the Middle East, Africa and other regions.
During the meeting, Putin also indicated that the Russian nuclear triad – which includes intercontinental missiles, atomic submarines and strategic aviation – “allows to guarantee the security of Russia.”
Thus, he has warned that the speed of the modernization of weapons in the world exceeds “that of Formula 1, they are cosmic speeds”, therefore, if Moscow stops, it will begin to lag behind.
According to the president, the immediate objective is for modern weapons to represent 88.3 percent of the weapons of nuclear deterrence forces in 2021, while by 2024 that figure should reach 75.9 percent for all troops.
