(Newswire.net — June 20, 2016) — Moscow, Russia – Criticizing NATO’s idea to broaden defensive anti-missile capabilities to Russia’s neighboring states, Russian president Vladimir Putin said there is nothing defensive about the idea. He added that the Kremlin knows of when the US plans to distribute new missiles, Russia Today reports.
“We know when US will get new missile threatening Russia’s nuclear capability,” Putin said at a meeting with the heads of international news agencies at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF)on Friday.
The Russian president heavily criticized the US anti-missile defense systems being installed near Russia’s borders, explaining it can be “inconspicuously” transformed into offensive weapons, and Moscow knows “year by year” how it will happen.
“The missiles are put into a capsule used for launches of sea-based Tomahawk missiles. Now they are placing their antimissiles there, which are capable of engaging a target at a distance of up to 310 miles.”
The Russian president emphasized that that the technology has advanced and soon those missiles will have a range of more than 600 miles, which makes them an assault weapon.
“We know year by year what will happen, and they know that we know,” Mr. Putin said, adding that Western officials manipulate the Western media who further misinform their audiences.
He explained that the “strategic ballistic missile defense is part of an offensive strategic capability, [and] functions in conjunction with an aggressive missile strike system.”
The Russian president stressed that thanks to media manipulation, people do not realize exactly how dangerous this US strategy is.
“The world is being pulled into a completely new dimension, while [Washington] pretends that nothing’s happening,” Putin said, adding that the truth is that new defensive missile launchers are capable of launching Tomahawks, which can be installed “in a matter of hours”.
Allegedly, President Putin said that he has been trying to reach out to his counterparts, but in vain. He said that while the media says that the US is building an air-defense system to protect from Iran, that threat does not exist largely thanks to President Obama’s involvement. But still, the US is pushing missiles closer to Russia’s border.
“So why have they now built a missile defense system in Romania?” he asked, adding that the Romanian people certainly didn’t ask to be “protected” this way, as their missile bases now become targets of the Russian nuclear arsenal.
While the US is pushing its NATO allies to ‘team up,’ the idea develops resistance, especially in countries that have a history of good relations with Russia like France and Greece, or Germany that drew lesson from countering Russia in WWI and WWII.
Reminding of the consequences of provoking Russia, former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder warned NATO in an interview with Süddeutschen Zeitung that its policies could have serious consequences to peace and stability in the world.
The former chancellor ridiculed the idea that Russia “may be nurturing a plan to invade NATO-countries,” stressing that the notion is completely out of touch with the real state of affairs, Süddeutschen Zeitung reported.