BERLIN   -   Germany said on Monday it was not deterred by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s threats to relaunch production of intermediate-range nuclear weapons if the United States confirms its intention to deploy missiles to Europe. “We will not be intimidated by such statements,” foreign ministry spokesman Sebastian Fischer told a government press conference. In early July, Washington and Berlin announced that the “episodic deployments” of long-range US missiles, including Tomahawk cruise missiles, to Germany would begin in 2026.

Putin on Sunday threatened to relaunch production of intermediate-range nuclear weapons if the plans go ahead. “We will consider ourselves liberated from the unilateral moratorium previously adopted on the deployment of medium- and short-range strike capabilities,” Putin said during a naval parade in Saint Petersburg. Putin added that now in Russia “the development of a number of such systems is in the final stages”.

“We will take mirror measures in deploying them, taking into account the actions of the US, its satellites in Europe and in other regions of the world,” the Russian president warned. Such missiles, which can travel between 500 and 5,500 kilometres (300-3,400 miles), were the subject of an arms control treaty signed by the United States and the Soviet Union in 1987. But both Washington and Moscow withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in 2019, each accusing the other of violations. “This type of missile... had already been developed and deployed long ago” by Russia, Fischer said. “What we are now planning is a response to deter these weapons from being used against Germany or other targets,” he added.