Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov MOSCOW, July 14 (AFP): The Kremlin on Saturday warned that the deployment of US missiles in Germany could make European capitals targets for Russian missiles in a repeat of Cold War-style confrontation.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov spoke of a "paradox" in which "Europe is a target for our missiles, our country is a target for US missiles in Europe". "We have enough capacity to contain these missiles but the potential victims are the capitals of these countries," he said, speaking to Russian state television channel Russia 1.
Peskov also hinted that such a confrontation could undermine Europe as a whole-in the same way that the Cold War ended with the Soviet Union's collapse.
"Europe is coming apart. Europe is not living its best moment. In a different configuration, a repeat of history is inevitable," he said.
The White House announced on Wednesday during a NATO summit that it would periodically station long-range weapons including Tomahawk cruise missiles in Germany from 2026 as a deterrent.
"Exercising these advanced capabilities will demonstrate the United States' commitment to NATO and its contributions to European integrated deterrence," the White House said.
The Kremlin has already criticised the move, accusing Washington of taking a step towards a new Cold War and of directly participating in the conflict in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, China and Russia conducted a joint naval patrol in the northern and western Pacific, Beijing's defence ministry said Sunday, adding that the exercise was not "targeted" at any other nation.
The two countries have drawn closer in recent years and tout their friendship as having "no limits". Both share hostile relations with US-led Western defence alliance NATO.
Beijing has further strengthened its diplomatic, economic and military ties with Moscow since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
China, which has never condemned the invasion, maintains it is a neutral party to the conflict. But Western leaders have criticised it for giving political and economic support to Russia, including trade in goods that have both civilian and military uses. "According to the annual plan and the consensus between China and Russia, naval vessels of China and Russia recently carried out their fourth joint maritime patrol in the western and northern Pacific Ocean," the Chinese defence ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
"This operation is not targeted at any third party and has nothing to do with the current international and regional situation," it added.
No details were provided on the Pacific manoeuvres, including the ships' routes, their exact locations or the nature of the forces involved.
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