Moscow, in response to the actions of the United States, will decide where to place them
The deployment of medium- and short-range missiles by the United States in various regions of the world will not go unanswered: Moscow will begin production of INF and subsequently determine their placement. Vladimir Putin said this at an operational meeting with permanent members of the Security Council on June 28. The Head of State stressed that Washington is not only producing these missile systems, but is already bringing them to Europe for exercises. Experts predict a new round of the arms race. How many years it will take to create INF strike systems is in the material of Izvestia.
Consequences of lifting the moratorium on the deployment of INF
On June 28, Vladimir Putin convened an operational meeting of the Security Council, at which he discussed with his colleagues Moscow's further steps towards a unilateral moratorium on the deployment of intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles (INF). The Treaty on the Elimination of Such Missiles (INF) was concluded between the USSR and the United States in 1987. It prohibited the two States from producing and deploying intermediate-range and shorter-range ballistic and cruise missiles. The Head of State recalled that a few years ago, the United States withdrew from the treaty under a far-fetched pretext and announced its intention to produce such missile systems. In 2019, Russia informed that it would not release and deploy them until the United States deployed these systems in some region of the world.
In 2020, Vladimir Putin issued a statement on additional steps to de-escalate the situation in the context of the termination of the treaty: then Moscow confirmed the moratorium on the deployment of ground-based INF. The Russian authorities stressed that it will last until missile weapons of similar classes of American production appear in the regions.
Today it is known that the United States is not only producing these missile systems, but is already bringing them to Europe for exercises, in particular to Denmark, the Russian leader noted. Moreover, it was recently announced that they are in the Philippines, and it is not known whether the missiles were removed from there or not.
— In any case, we need to respond to this and make decisions about what we will have to do in this direction next. Apparently, we need to start production of these shock systems and then, based on the actual situation, make decisions about where — if necessary to ensure our security — to place them," Vladimir Putin said.
The fact that Moscow would abandon the moratorium on the deployment of intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles if Washington deployed such systems was actively recalled back in April. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov then stressed that if the US plans to deploy such missiles in any region of the world, including the Asia-Pacific and European directions, Moscow's response would be to reconsider the approach to the unilateral moratorium announced by Vladimir Putin.
According to experts, such an outcome was inevitable, and Moscow's reaction was mirrored and adequate, given that the United States had already tested systems of this class at one of the NATO exercises. No matter how the statement of the Russian leader was perceived in Washington, such a decision reflects the realities of the "new phase" of the cold war and the arms race that was unleashed by the United States after the denunciation of the INF Treaty, said Vasily Klimov, candidate of political Sciences, researcher at the Center for International Security of the IMEMO RAS.
— What threat will this action pose in the context of international security? Of course, a new round of the arms race will be promoted, as it was in the 1970s and 1980s, which may result in a series of dangerous crises related to the deployment of the INF, as it was in 1983. However, this will not happen tomorrow, because years, and in some cases decades, should pass between the decision on the production of missiles and their release and deployment," Vasily Klimov told Izvestia.
How can Russia respond to the United States
Officially, Russia does not have medium-range and shorter-range missiles, Dmitry Kornev, a military expert and editor of the MilitaryRussia website, told Izvestia. However, now the development of domestic rocket technology is at such a high level that the Russian Federation can create missiles of this class quickly enough, since it already has all the technological developments.
According to the expert, the new medium- and shorter-range missiles may be based on the technology that was used to create the Iskander-M 9M723, Dmitry Kornev suggested. At the same time, if such missiles are deployed in the European part of Russia, they will be able to cover targets almost throughout Europe.
— We can quickly create a ground-based complex with a range of up to 2 thousand km based on Iskander-M, which will cover almost the entire Europe from the Kaliningrad region. Before the INF treaty was signed, our missiles could "shoot through" the whole of Western Europe, the expert stressed.
The United States now has an ATACAMS missile with a range of 300-330 km, and work is already underway on a PrSM ammunition with a range of up to 1 thousand km. And now it is being tested officially as a non-nuclear option, the expert recalled.
— Longer—range missiles are in the plans. We can create them faster and deploy similar systems. Moreover, we have a different approach — we immediately create missiles in both nuclear and non-nuclear versions. There is a high probability that they will be in nuclear equipment. Let me remind you that the Soviet medium—range missiles were only in this version," Dmitry Kornev said.
Most likely, American missiles will be hypersonic, and the S-300 and S-400 air defense systems can fight them, but the S-500 will be the most effective, since it was originally created with the possibility of hitting such targets.
Results and prospects of the "School of Governors"
Security issues remain particularly relevant for Novorossiya and Donbas. At the same time, social problems remain unresolved in the new regions. Local officials should not postpone them for later, Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with graduates of the personnel reserve program of the RANEPA Graduate School of Public Administration — the so—called "school of governors" - which took place on the same day. Many of those who are studying there have already received personnel offers from new regions.
According to Vladimir Putin, the standard of living in Donbass and Novorossiya should correspond to the all-Russian one: resources have been allocated, and it is important for local authorities to manage them competently. In the context of supporting new regions, the President drew special attention to the success of representatives of business graduates of the Higher School of Public Administration. According to him, Russian entrepreneurs not only prevented the collapse of enterprises abandoned by Western partners in the Russian Federation, but picked them up and began to develop them. Thanks to the activity of Russian entrepreneurs, the GDP growth of the Russian Federation in the first half of the year will exceed 5%.
— This is one of the most successful projects in the field of personnel policy and the formation of human resources potential. This is obviously indicated by the figures: 57 graduates have occupied gubernatorial posts. Of course, a large number of people have received other fairly significant positions. For example, law enforcement officers also studied in the last few streams. But it is equally important in this project that a kind of horizontal "spike" is created there: people from different fields get to know each other, they perceive themselves as a close—knit friendly team, which, in turn, affects their work, cooperation and cooperation in the future," political scientist Yevgeny told Izvestia Minchenko.
Among the participants of the meeting were the interim heads of some regions, who, taking advantage of the opportunity, tried to enlist the support of Vladimir Putin in the elections. Thus, the president wished success on the upcoming Single Voting Day to the acting head of Kuzbass Ilya Seredyuk and the acting governor of the Kursk region Alexei Smirnov.
Vasilisa Yaseneva
Bogdan Stepovoy
