Russian President Vladimir Putin warns he'll retaliate against NATO missiles

[Falcon29]

Russian President Vladimir Putin warns he'll retaliate against NATO missiles

(CNN)Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia will retaliate against the placement of U.S. missiles in nearby countries such as Romania, according to Russia's state-run news agency TASS.

The United States launched a ground-based missile defense system earlier this month in Romania. The system is meant to defend Europe against rogue states like Iran and not intended to target Moscow's missiles, Washington has said.

Putin issued his threat during a news conference Friday after meeting with Greek Prime Minister Aleksis Tsipras in Athens.

"If yesterday in those areas of Romania people simply didn't know what it means to be in the cross hairs, then today we will be forced to carry out certain measures to ensure our security," Putin said.

NATO, which operates the missile defense system, said the missiles could not be used offensively as they don't include explosives and are designed to simply "punch" targets out of the sky.

"Any threats from Russia are unjustified and irresponsible," said NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu. "Russia knows full well that our Ballistic Missile Defense system is defensive and neither designed nor directed against Russia."

The NATO run system is housed at a U.S. naval support facility in Deveselu, Romania, the site of a Romanian military base. An additional anti-missile platform is planned in Poland.

"It will be the same case with Poland," Putin warned. "We will wait until Poland takes certain action. We won't take any action until we see rockets in areas that neighbor us."
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http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/28/europe/putin-threatens-romania/

 

[remnant]

This is a situation that Russia has been complaining about for quite some time now. Nato is expanding right to the borders of Russia and the latter is interpreting this as an existential threat. Russia hasn't helped to make matters any easier through its invasion of Georgia and the annexation of Crimea as well as other acts of aggression against Ukraine. This state of affairs has triggered an arms race. Honestly, its hard to predict what all this sabre rattling between Russia and Nato will boil down to.

 

[vash]

These weapons might be "defensive", but they can certainly give one nuclear power the option of first strike when the opposite side's missiles are believed to be ineffective for a counter-strike. It is destroying the existing balance of power. So by true definition, it is not really for "defensive" purpose, but rather for being able to go on offensive first without worrying about retaliation.

This is a situation that Russia has been complaining about for quite some time now. Nato is expanding right to the borders of Russia and the latter is interpreting this as an existential threat. Russia hasn't helped to make matters any easier through its invasion of Georgia and the annexation of Crimea as well as other acts of aggression against Ukraine. This state of affairs has triggered an arms race. Honestly, its hard to predict what all this sabre rattling between Russia and Nato will boil down to.

George made move against South Ossetia by bombarding its capital city overnight and killing over 2,000 civilians... before rolled in tanks. The initial reports had photos of George tanks burning on the street of South Ossetia. Then all news headline was "Russia invaded Georgia"... Yet how did those tanks get to the street of South Ossetia if Georgia was attacked instead of attacking?

Ukraine went through a coup which overthrew democratically elected president. Then replaced him with some anti-Russia factions who broke the deal about Crimea (Russia could legally place up to 25,000 troops there). It was clearly an attempt by NATO to wrestle away the only warm port from Russia by sponsoring a coup there. Typical tactics...

 

[Scorpion]

Russia can't stand against NATO at all. Putin will get his ass handed to him.

 

[vash]

Russia can't stand against NATO at all. Putin will get his ass handed to him.

Maybe not in conventional warfare since Russia is outnumbered as well as having inferior technologies in many areas. But their nuke is a real threat. Thousands of nukes can make anyone to back off from a fight. It is the very reason why the Russians see the missile "defense" as a threat to their ability to retaliate in case of them being nuked first. They need the credible retaliation capability in order to feel safe.

 

[explorerx7]

There is this perception that Russian armament capabilities are inferior to that of the West and I don't know if this is really true. The Russian air intervention in Syria showed that their capabilities may not be below par as some may suggest. This Issue Involving Nato in Rumania has got Putin riled-up and knowing the leader that Putin is I am certain that he will not take it lightly and some sort of confrontation between Russia and Nato may be brewing over this matter.

 

[vash]

There is this perception that Russian armament capabilities are inferior to that of the West and I don't know if this is really true. The Russian air intervention in Syria showed that their capabilities may not be below par as some may suggest. This Issue Involving Nato in Rumania has got Putin riled-up and knowing the leader that Putin is I am certain that he will not take it lightly and some sort of confrontation between Russia and Nato may be brewing over this matter.

Russian air campaign in Syrian is not a good presentation of their true capability. WWII Nazi Germany could probably do similar or more damage in Syria today against the militia groups who have zero air force and very little effective weapon against air targets.

Russian equipment is not terrible, but they do not have the edge when compare to western counterparts.

 

[John Snort]

I don't see the reason why the U.S and NATO should always be pretending that what they are doing is a response to threats from Iran or rogue powers. Russia knows quite well that they are the target but as the missile shield is for defense only there's no need for them to get worked up.