Putin Warns NATO Missiles in Ukraine Will Cross Moscow’s Red Line
Dec. 2, 2021 (EIRNS)—Russians are warning that NATO military deployments into Ukraine—which is not covered by Article 5 of the NATO treaty—would cross Moscow’s red lines. At the plenary session of VTB’s “Russia Calling!” Investment Forum on Nov. 30, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned against the possibility of the alliance placing advanced weapons in Ukraine near the border with Russia, saying that such a deployment would be a red line. A Moscow-based investor had asked “You have mentioned red lines in relations between Russia and Ukraine several times ... [which] is also connected with the West and NATO. Can you clarify ... what can be the consequences of crossing them? Should investors anticipate a potential deployment of Russian troops in Ukraine?”
Putin’s answer was very sobering. This is the context, he said, in which Russia had developed hypersonic weapons because of NATO forces advancing to its borders: “The point at issue is not to deploy or not to deploy troops, to fight or not to fight. The point at issue is to develop relations aimed at fairer and more stable development based on respect for the security interests of all the participants in international affairs....
“[T]he Russian Federation also has certain apprehensions regarding the large-scale military exercises held near its border, including unscheduled ones, like the recent Black Sea drills during which strategic bombers, which are known to carry precision and possibly even nuclear weapons, made flights within 20 km of our border. All this is posing a threat to us....
“Take a look at what has been going on for the past 20 years.... Why did they need to enlarge NATO towards our border? What for? Who can answer this question? There is no reasonable answer; it does not exist....
“However, despite all our warnings, conversations and requests, the [NATO] infrastructure ultimately approached our border. The situation went as far as the deployment of BMD systems in Poland and Romania, and the launchers that have been stationed there, the MK41, can be used to launch Tomahawk missiles and other strike systems. This is creating a threat to us—this is an obvious fact....
“You have asked about Ukraine and where the red lines run. They are, above all, the threats to us that can come from that territory. If the enlargement, the infrastructure continues to be enlarged—I have said this publicly, but you are businesspeople and may not have the time to follow this, I will repeat this once again that the issue concerns the possible deployment in the territory of Ukraine of strike systems with the flight time of 7-10 minutes to Moscow, or 5 minutes in the case of hypersonic systems. Just imagine that,” said the President, recalling that the questioner had said that he lives in Moscow. “The flight time to Moscow is 5 minutes [for these systems],” Putin repeated.
He continued:
“So, what should we do? We would need to create similar systems to be used against those who are threatening us. Can you imagine that? But we can do this already now, because we have held successful tests, and early next year we will put a new sea-launched hypersonic missile with a maximum speed of Mach 9 on combat duty. The flight time to those who issue orders will also be 5 minutes.
“Where are we heading? Why are we doing this? The creation of such threats for us is the red line. I hope it will not come to this. I hope that common sense and responsibility for one’s country and the international community will prevail after all.”
President Putin’s remarks and his open discussion with the audience are posted on the Kremlin website.
