Speaking at a meeting in Helsinki he claimed: “Launches of this missile can be carried out from (launch) systems already located in Romania and Poland.
“All you have to do is change the software and I don’t think our American partners will inform even the European Union about this.
“This entails new threats for us that we must react to.”
These missile tests would have been banned under the INF treaty which didn’t allow land-based missiles with a range between 310 and 3,400 miles. It was designed to prevent countries from launching a nuclear strike at short notice.
The United States has said it has no imminent plans to deploy land-based missiles in Europe.
Putin revealed on Wednesday that a deadly blast at a military site in Northern Russia earlier this month had taken place during testing for a new weapons system.
He added: “This is work in the military field, work on promising weapons systems. We are not hiding this.
“We must think of our own security.”
Article Appeared @
https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/world-news/vladimir-putin-respond-ready-put-18979912