Context
Russia may deploy missiles on its border with Europe if missile defense talks between Moscow and Washington fail. Russia is seeking a written pledge that US backed European missile shield positioned in the region, would not be used against it. “We will not agree to take part in a project that may weaken our deterrent potential in a relatively short time – five or six or eight years. And the European missile defense is exactly this kind of project,” said Medvedev.
The Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned on Wednesday that his country would set up “advanced offensive weapon systems,” “in the west and the south of the country” if the US did not back its verbal assurance with a written legal guarantee. He also threatened Moscow could withdraw itself from the START treaty if the US and NATO failed to take its security interests into consideration.
