MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Wednesday that if the United States deploys intermediate-range missiles in Europe, Russia will have to target the nations that host them.
The stern statement followed President Trump’s announcement over the weekend that he intends to opt out of a 1987 nuclear arms control pact because of alleged Russian violations.
Putin said he hoped the U.S. wouldn’t follow up by positioning intermediate-range missiles in Europe. Such a move would be a repeat of a Cold War showdown in the 1980s, when the U.S. and the Soviet Union both deployed intermediate-range missiles on the continent, the Russian leader said.
“If they are deployed in Europe, we will naturally have to respond in kind,” Putin said at a news conference. “The European nations that would agree to that should understand that they would expose their territory to the threat of a possible retaliatory strike. These are obvious things.”
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