President Vladimir Putin signaled Russia will aim new weapons at the U.S. if it stations missiles in Europe after quitting a landmark Cold-War-era treaty, amid growing fears of a new arms race.
Russia doesn’t plan to deploy missiles banned by the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces treaty that the U.S. has pulled out of, Putin said. But if the U.S. does, “Russia will be forced to produce and deploy weapons that can be used not only against the territories from which we face this direct threat but also those where the decision is made to use these missiles, ” he said, eliciting applause from the hundreds of officials gathered in the hall near the Kremlin.
While Washington says it won’t deploy new land-based nuclear weapons in Europe, the U.S. and its allies are laying the groundwork to deploy new intermediate-range conventional missiles there for the first time since they were banned by the treaty. With a second pact covering nuclear weapons likely to expire in two years, the risks of confrontation are growing.
The Russian leader blasted U.S. allies in Europe as “satellites” who were “oinking along with” Washington’s position on pulling out of the INF treaty. The accord banned any land-based missiles from Europe with a range between 500 and 5, 500 kilometers, whether nuclear or conventional.
主编：Maisie、潘婷
品控：苏达、毛西
审核：宇轩
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-02-20/putin-promises-russians-to-improve-living-standards-this-year?srnd=premium-asia
