Missile Defence and Security Threats

All it took was a tiny spark from the US, for Russia to blow things out of proportion. The US President Donald Trump announced his country would pull out of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty (INF) signed with Moscow in 1987, and which, according to the White House, has been repeatedly violated by Russia for years. Vladimir Putin was quick to react, and claimed the decision to denounce the treaty would lead to a new arms race. Hinting at dangerous, even apocalyptic future scenarios, according to some of his aides, Putin threatened with a quick and effective response "in kind." Those European countries that would agree to station US missiles would "expose their territory to the threat of a possible retaliatory strike," Putin added, and said he was hoping to discuss the issue with President Trump during their meeting in Paris on November 11.

Meanwhile, Romania, which feels targeted directly by these statements, given that under the NATO umbrella the USA has activated in Deveselu, southern Romania, a missile shield base equipped with missile interceptors able to shoot down enemy ballistic missiles while they are still in space, responded to Putin's statements. According to the Romanian Foreign Ministry Russia's mentioning this system in the context of the dispute on the INF is completely irrelevant. Moreover, Moscow's aggressive rhetoric is unwarranted and counterproductive, given that Kremlin has received long ago all the necessary assurances and explanations both from Romania, and the North-Atlantic Alliance. Still, Bucharest reiterates them now, and says the missile shield is purely defensive and complies with all international commitments.

Following these new threats targeting European countries, and precisely in order to remind President Putin that NATO stands by its members, the Alliance initiated in Norway on Thursday the biggest military drills since the Cold War, simulating a response to an attack on one of the Allies. Taking part in the manoeuvres, known as Trident Juncture and scheduled to end on November 7, are 50,000 troops, 250 aircraft, 65 vessels and 10,000 land vehicles from 31 NATO member and partner states. NATO does not want a conflict, but it is prepared to protect all its members against any threat, the organisation's secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said. Moscow retorted quickly, describing the exercise as provocative and anti-Russian.