MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that his country’s new missiles will target the United States if Washington deploys missiles in Europe.
Putin used his annual address to the nation to say that testing of a nuclear-capable glider and underwater drone is now complete and that the two missiles are ready for inclusion in the country’s arsenal this year.
Speaking just weeks after President Trump and Putin confirmed they were pulling out of the landmark Cold War-era Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty, Putin took aim at the United States, saying its deployment of Tomahawk cruise missiles in Romania and Poland violated the terms of the treaty.
“Russia will be forced to create and develop weapons that can both be used on the territory where the threat comes from and decision-making centers,” Putin told lawmakers gathered in a historic hall near the Kremlin.
Current terms dictate that Moscow and Washington have a six-month negotiation period during which they can try resolve to their differences before a full withdrawal from the treaty.
Referring to the United States, Putin said, “They are talented, for sure, but can they count? I believe they can. So let them count the range of our missiles.”
The new hypersonic glider, called the Avangard, which can travel faster than the speed of sound, is the type of weapon that the Pentagon has also been working on. The nuclear-propelled, nuclear-capable underwater drone is called Poseidon and will be put in the water in the spring.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers his annual address to the nation in Moscow on Wednesday. (Sputnik/Reuters)
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