ARMS RACE

Vladimir Putin Orders Reciprocal Response to U.S. Missile Test

The Russian president ordered a “like-for-like” response to a U.S. missile test he said proves America plans to deploy banned missiles around the world.

Russian president Vladimir Putin announced Friday that he had ordered a retaliatory response to a cruise missile test fired by the U.S. on Monday. It was the first such missile fired by the U.S. since leaving the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) in early August. Speaking to the Russian security council, Putin said he would not stand idly by as the U.S. seeks to deploy new missiles in the Asia-Pacific region. Reuters reports that the Russian president said the move “affects our core interests as it is close to Russia’s borders.” U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper had expressed interest in placing ground-launched intermediate-range missiles in Asia in the near future against the wishes of the Russian state. “We have never wanted, do not want and will not be drawn into a costly, economically destructive arms race,” Putin told his security team. “That said, in the light of unfolding circumstances, I’m ordering the Defense Ministry, the Foreign Ministry and other appropriate agencies to analyze the threat to our country posed by U.S. actions, and to take exhaustive measures to prepare a reciprocal response.”