MOSCOW – President Vladimir Putin warned Wednesday of a new arms race ifAmerica pulls out of weapons treaties, and said Russia would respond “inkind” to any new US missiles placed on European soil.
At the weekend, US President Donald Trump sparked concerns globally when hesaid he would ditch a key Cold War-era nuclear weapons pact, thethree-decade-old Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF).
Speaking after hosting Trump s national security advisor John Bolton onTuesday, Putin warned that abandoning the treaty, and failure to extendanother key arms control agreement known as the New START, would unleash anew arms race and put Europe in danger.
Putin said dismantling a global arms control system was “very dangerous,”adding Russia was concerned about the fact that the United States hadalready abandoned the Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty, planned to ditch theINF, and that the future of the New START was unclear.
“There would be nothing left except an arms race,” he said at a newsconference after talks with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.
The Russian president said that if Washington moved to abandon the INF andplaced more missiles in Europe, Russia would respond “in kind.”
“Will we be able to respond?” he said. “Yes, we will and this will be veryquick and effective.”
Putin said any European countries agreeing to host US missiles would be atrisk of a Russian attack.
“These are obvious things,” the Russian leader said.
“We will return to the situation with the Pershing missiles in Europe,” hesaid, referring to US missiles stationed in Western Europe in the 1980s.
Putin accused the United States of violating the INF treaty which Trump hassaid Russia is in breach of.
The Russian president said he wanted to discuss the issue with his Americancounterpart when they attend a November 11 event in Paris commemorating thecentenary of the end of World War I.
“We are ready to work with our American partners without any hysterics,” headded.
Italy s Conte said his country was also concerned about a possible collapseof the INF agreement, adding he would speak to Trump on the subject.
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“I ve already let President Putin know that I was really young in the eraof the Pershing missiles and I would not want to return to the time that wehave been able to overcome,” the 54-year-old said in remarks translatedinto Russian.
“We should focus on other prospects of cooperation and avoid an escalationthat could be alarming for us all.”
Trump had said the United States was ready to build up its nuclear arsenalbecause Russia violated the INF agreement.
“Until people come to their senses, we will build it up,” he said Monday,referring to America s nuclear stockpile.
Trump s announcement sparked concern globally, with the European Commissionurging the United States and Russia to pursue talks to preserve the treaty,and China calling on Washington to “think twice.”
Bolton has said that Britain, Japan, and other countries supported the USposition.
Earlier Wednesday, the Kremlin said it was ready to discuss the possibilityof a summit between Putin and Trump in Washington next year.
“Undoubtedly (we are) ready,” Putin s spokesman Dmitry Peskov toldjournalists after Bolton reportedly said such a summit was possible.
Peskov said the issue had been “raised” but “so far there is no concretedecision on this.”
Bolton arrived in Moscow on Sunday evening and held talks with Putin andtop officials including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian SecurityCouncil chief Nikolai Patrushev.
The US official said the Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty, a key Soviet-eraagreement abandoned by George W. Bush, was previously considered acornerstone of global security, but that the world had remained safewithout it. – APP/AFP
