The Foreign Ministry announced Russia’s readiness to build up missile potential on the western border

Russia may change its position on the deployment of medium-range and long-range ballistic missiles on the western border, said Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian Foreign Ministry Grigory Mashkov.

“We should also look at whether our current line of not deploying ground-based medium-range and longer-range ballistic missiles first is justified in the western direction, or whether we need to begin preparations for the deployment of missiles of this type right now,” wrote Mashkov in an article for the journal “International Affairs”.

According to his estimates, the deployment of such missiles will allow “promptly responding to emerging challenges.” At the same time, the diplomat said that it is necessary not to forget about the eastern borders of the Russian Federation, where there are also risks of conflicts.

“Here it is necessary to have an impressive arsenal of medium-range missiles to stop potential threats to our national security,” he said.

Mashkov believes that now the process of the “missile arms race” is becoming “uncontrollable.” “The PRC is actively building up its missile capabilities. To the club of ICBM owners [межконтинентальных баллистических ракет] North Korea recently “broke in”. The “threshold” countries – Israel, India, Pakistan – do not abandon the idea of ​​creating missiles with a range of more than 5,500 km,” the ambassador said.

He also recalled the “dismantled” treaties between Russia and the United States. According to him, after the termination of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty) in the summer of 2019, the Pentagon began to develop such missiles and intends to deploy them, in particular, “near our borders.”

In the spring of 2022, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu also declaredthat the US and NATO are stepping up operational and combat training along the western Russian borders. At the same time, he spoke about the applications submitted by Finland and Sweden to the North Atlantic Alliance, because of which tension “in the zone of responsibility of the Western Military District continues to grow.”

On February 21 this year, during his address to the Federal Assembly, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the suspension of Russia’s participation in the New START Treaty. After, on February 28, the President signed the relevant law.

Then Peskov noted that Russia was not leaving the arms reduction treaty, but it was only about suspension. According to him, Russia’s goal is to make sure that nuclear parity is observed, taking into account the arsenals of France and Great Britain, which are not included in the perimeter of the agreement.

In February, the Russian Foreign Ministry, before the suspension of START III, stated that US actions against Russia could lead to a direct military clash between the two powers. “The United States, in fact, unleashed an all-out hybrid war against Russia,” the department said at the time.