Putin warns of post-INF 'arms race'

Russia would mirror any US deployment of intermediate-range nuclear missiles in Europe if Washington withdraws from the Cold War-era INF treaty, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday.

"If the United States does withdraw from the INF treaty, the main question is what they will do with these newly available missiles," Putin said at a press conference alongside Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. "If they will deliver them to Europe, naturally our response will have to mirror this." he said.

Read more: European NATO allies muted on nuclear treaty's demise

Those European countries that would agree to station US missiles would, Putin added, "expose their territory to the threat of a possible retaliatory strike."

Putin open to meeting Trump

US President Donald Trump threatened to terminate the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces treaty on Sunday, citing repeated violations by Russia and China's absence from the pact to justify the decision.

The deal prohibits both sides from building, possessing or testing ground-launched nuclear cruise missiles with a range of 500 to 5,500 kilometers (300 to 3,400 miles). It is credited with ending an arms race between the United States and Soviet Union in the last years of the Cold War.

Trump has left open the possibility of negotiating a replacement agreement that included China, which was not party to the original INF treaty. Putin said on Tuesday that he would consider meeting Trump in November to discuss the issue.

Read more: INF Treaty: Would US dropout begin an arms race with China?

'Nothing left except an arms race'

European leaders including Germany have criticized Trump's pledge to withdraw from the treaty. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said it posed "difficult questions for us and for Europe" because the treaty was "an important pillar of our European security architecture."

While reiterating Trump's accusations against Russia, NATO has dismissed concerns that European countries would host more nuclear weapons in response to Russian violations.

Speaking on Wednesday, Putin dismissed accusations Russia had violated the INF. He also said that "there would be nothing left except an arms race" if the United States also refused to renew New START, a 2010 agreement that restricts both sides' nuclear arsenals and is set to expire in 2021.

amp/msh (Reuters, AP, AFP, dpa)

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