Leonkov told Sputnik: “The history of this issue dates back to the United States’ withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. Incidentally, this occurred during Donald Trump’s first presidential term. The American side justified this by claiming a growing Russian threat and the need to respond,” as they described it.
He pointed out that “by 2026, the first ‘Typhoon’ systems are expected to appear on German soil. This is a land-based Tomahawk missile, which can be described as nothing else. There is also an expectation of deploying ‘Dark Eagle’ medium-range missiles, which, according to the Americans, can reach a target at speeds of 5-6 Mach, representing an advancement in American hypersonic missile technology.”
The expert confirmed: “We have repeatedly warned the West about their desire to deploy medium-range missile systems in Europe, but they did not respond to us. Therefore, Russia no longer considers itself bound by this treaty and the self-imposed restrictions previously established.”
Earlier today, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported that Russia noted the disappearance of the necessary conditions to continue maintaining the unilateral suspension of the deployment of medium- and short-range ground-based missiles. Therefore, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated in its announcement, published on its website: “Given the repeated disregard for our warnings on this issue and the development of the actual deployment of American-made medium-range ground missiles in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, the Russian Foreign Ministry notes the disappearance of the necessary conditions to maintain a unilateral suspension of similar weapons deployment, and it is authorized to announce that the Russian Federation no longer considers itself bound by the corresponding self-imposed restrictions adopted earlier.”
