NATO is planning for “more Russian missiles” after the collapse of a landmark Cold War arms treaty, but will not deploy new nuclear warheads in Europe and doesn't intend to repeat Russian actions, the alliance’s chief said Tuesday.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance would beef up its defences but insisted this did not mean “mirroring” any Russian build-up of missiles.
“We don’t have to mirror what Russia does but we need to make sure we have effective deterrence and defence.”
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“We are both urging Russia to come back in compliance but at the same time we are planning for a world without the INF treaty and with more Russian missiles,” Stoltenberg said.
The former Norwegian prime minister refused to speculate on what measures NATO might take but insisted “we do not intend to deploy new ground-based nuclear missiles in Europe.”
Western capitals want Russia to return to compliance with the treaty by abandoning its new 9M729 missile system.
Stoltenberg repeated warnings that the new Russian missiles made nuclear conflict more likely because they are mobile, hard to detect and give little warning time.
