Europe Is Against US Military Plans

Germany and France have spoken out against American plans to deploy nuclear weapons in Europe.

At a secret meeting with German lawmakers, the deputy head of the German Federal Intelligence Service Guido Muller urged his colleagues to treat the statements of the Russian politicians with understanding, as they were mostly targeted for a domestic audience.

The U.S. previously accused Russia of carrying out tests of medium-range cruise missile P-500 (maximum range 500 km), as well as ballistic missile RS-26, as the website Gazeta.ru reports.

Washington also announced its plans to station 5,000 soldiers and heavy weapons in Germany to protect Eastern Europe and the Baltic states from potential aggression from Russia.

It also has been recently reported that Poland and Lithuania confirmed the talks with the Pentagon about deploying U.S. heavy weaponry on their territory.

Experts believe that such statements could return the world to the era of the Cold War.

However, according to some of them, this cold spell is occurring on the rhetoric level for the time being, and actual actions are unlikely.

Head of the Center for Strategic Trends Studies Ivan Konovalov thinks such statements push Europe back to the times of the Cold War. But for now, they remain only aggressive rhetoric.

“For now these statements remain words that probe the situation. It refers to the reaction of both Moscow and Europe, considering that European states and NATO countries have polarizing views regarding the situation in Ukraine and regarding the strengthening of alliance in Europe, which is targeted against Russia,” he told Actual Comments.

The expert believes that we are witnessing a “war of nerves.”

Russia has to respond to the aggressive statements from the West. On June 16, while delivering his speech at Army-2015, the international military-technical forum, the Russian leader made a number of statements, which caused a strong reaction from NATO and Washington.

Thus, Putin announced that 44 intercontinental ballistic missiles would become operational in 2015. “If somebody threatens any of our territories, that means we will need to aim our Armed Forces, our modern weaponry towards the territories from which that threat originates,” Putin also noted.

Later, presidential aid Yuriy Ushakov explained that Moscow did not intend to join the arms race.

Germany is certain that at this point, Moscow is unwilling to begin another Cold War.

According to Muller, German intelligence has information about Moscow’s plans of modernization; however, it is still too early to talk about its success.

According to Der Spiegel, Berlin is afraid that the country will turn into a strategic base in the case of opposition from Russia and the U.S.