Baerbock: U.S. long-range missile deployment in Germany is a strategic deterrence against Russia
Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock emphasized that deploying U.S. long-range missiles in Germany is essential as a "means of deterrence" against Russian President Vladimir Putin. "The principle of hope will not protect us from Putin's Russia," she wrote in a guest commentary for Bild am Sonntag on Sunday, August 4.
Baerbock underscored that Germany's security is bolstered by current investments in defense within the EU, NATO, and on a national level. These defense measures include the decision to station U.S. long-range weaponry on German soil, she added.
She pointed out that Germany needs to develop a "reliable deterrence" strategy against Russia. Such steps should also protect Poland, the Baltic States, and Finland, Germany’s partners that "directly border Russia and have recently experienced the explosive impact of hybrid measures at the border," said the German minister.
In July's NATO summit in Washington, it was announced by both the U.S. and Germany that American long-range missiles would be deployed on German territory. Starting in 2026, America aims to base SM-6 interceptors, Tomahawk cruise missiles, and experimental hypersonic weapons with extended ranges in Germany as a deterrent against Russia and to protect NATO allies. The Tomahawk missiles can target distances up to 2,500 kilometers, according to the White House.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz asserted that deploying these weapons in Germany is meant "to prevent war." When asked what measures Moscow should take to halt the deployment of American long-range missiles, he responded, "Stop the war in Ukraine."
The placement of U.S. long-range missiles in Germany has also been supported by Johann Wadephul, deputy head of the largest opposition faction CDU/CSU in the Bundestag. He stressed the necessity of sufficient deterrents against Russia, noting that it often targets countries unable to defend themselves.
However, the decision to station American weaponry came as a surprise for many Bundestag members, leading several politicians to call for parliamentary debate on placing the missiles on German soil. Notably, such demands also emerge from within the ranks of the ruling Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).
Defense Minister Boris Pistorius remarked that Russia has long possessed weaponry with similar or even greater range violations of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty before withdrawing from it. He justified the need for "genuine deterrence" against Russia, stating the intention is not to threaten but to make clear that any potential attack on NATO territory would entail incalculable risks for Russia.