White House's missile plan in Germany stirs tension with Russia
At the beginning of July, the White House announced that in 2026 the United States would begin the "sporadic" deployment of long-range weapons in Germany. This decision displeased Russia, but the German Chancellor does not intend to change it unless Vladimir Putin ends the war.
8:34 AM EDT, July 25, 2024
Russia must end the war in Ukraine for American missiles not to be deployed in Germany. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz conveyed this information during a press conference in Berlin.
"The first thing Russia should do is to stop its terrible aggressive war against Ukraine and abandon its attempt to conquer the whole country," answered Scholz when journalists asked what Russia, theoretically, could do to prevent Germany from hosting American weapons.
According to the Chancellor, the decision to deploy American missiles in Germany aims to ensure that "there will be no war" in Germany.
"Germany needs deterrence capabilities in addition to what we already have, such as cruise missiles and long-range conventional weapon," he added.
At the beginning of July, the White House announced that in 2026, the United States would begin the "sporadic" deployment of long-range weapons in Germany. "Deutsche Welle" noted that for the first time since the Cold War, Germany would be hosting weapon systems capable of reaching Russian territory.
Russia responded to Germany's decision
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia has sufficient deterrence capabilities in case American long-range missiles are deployed in Europe. Still, Russian missiles would have to be aimed at European capitals.
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not rule out that in response to the deployment of American weapons in Germany, Russia could deploy missiles, including those equipped with "nuclear equipment".
