Russia plans 'military response' to contain 'serious threat' from NATO

Russia has vowed to respond with its military to contain the "very serious threat" from NATO and its plans to have long-range missiles in Germany.

The U.S. and Germany announced on Wednesday during the two-day NATO summit in Washington they would begin deploying long-range fire capabilities in Germany in 2026 to demonstrate their commitment to the alliance and European defense.

They said the "episodic deployments" were in preparation for longer-term stationing that would include SM-6, Tomahawk cruise missiles and hypersonic weapons that have a longer range than current capabilities in Europe - but Russia has responded with stern words. 

"Without nerves, without emotions, we will develop a military response, first of all, to this new game," said Sergei Ryabkov, Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister. 

Asked at a briefing with Russian news agencies about the outcome of the NATO summit, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "The North Atlantic alliance has once again very clearly confirmed its essence. It is an alliance created in an era of confrontation with the aim of maintaining confrontation.

"Tensions on the European continent are escalating. We see that in fact NATO's military infrastructure is constantly and incrementally moving towards our borders.

"This obliges us to analyze very deeply the decisions taken in the discussion that took place. This is a very serious threat to the national security of our country. All of this will require us to take thoughtful, coordinated, effective responses to deter NATO, to counteract NATO."

Banned by Reagan and Gorbachev

Ground-based missiles with a range exceeding 500 kilometers were banned until 2019 under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty signed by the Soviet Union's Mikhail Gorbachev and U.S. President Ronald Reagan in 1987.

At the end of June this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow should resume production of intermediate and shorter range nuclear-capable missiles after the U.S. brought similar missiles to Europe and Asia. Putin said Russia had pledged not to deploy such missiles but the U.S. had resumed their production.

The ongoing conflict in Ukraine has been top of the agenda at NATO's summit, and a declaration agreed by all members said Russia "remains the most significant and direct threat" to security.

China criticized a draft communiques from the summit that described it as a decisive enabler of Russia's military efforts in Ukraine.

"The NATO's clamors of China's responsibility over the Ukraine crisis are groundless and malicious," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said. "Without any evidence, the NATO has continuously spread false information fabricated by the U.S., blatantly vilified China, sowed discord between China and Europe, and undermined China-Europe cooperation. 

"The Ukraine crisis has dragged on to this day, it is obvious to the international community who is fueling the fire and adding to the turmoil. We advise the NATO to reflect on the root causes of the crisis and its own moves, listen earnestly to the just voice of the international community, and take concrete actions to push for easing the situation, instead of shifting the blame to others."

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Jian added: "China urges the NATO to abandon the outdated concepts of Cold War mentality, bloc confrontation and zero-sum games, remedy its wrong perception of China, stop interfering in China's internal affairs, stop darkening China's image and disturbing China-Europe relations, and stop messing up the Asia-Pacific after it has messed up Europe."

While a formal timeline for Ukraine to join the military alliance has not been agreed at the summit, the military alliance's 32 members said they had "unwavering" support for Ukraine's efforts.

Finland's President Alexander Stubb said: "I think it's very important to give a message to the Kremlin from here that Ukraine's path and bridge towards NATO membership is now irreversible."

Regarding the prospect of Ukraine joining NATO, former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said on social media: "The conclusion is obvious. We must do everything so that Ukraine's 'irreversible path' to NATO ends with either the disappearance of Ukraine or the disappearance of NATO. Or even better - the disappearance of both."

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