Russia: Deployment of U.S. missile defense in Europe is a clear provocation
The deployment of a U.S. anti-missile defense in Europe, including the modernization of the anti-ballistic missile defense system in Greenland, is a pure provocation; Russia will continue to develop anti-aircraft and anti-missile defense systems to maintain strategic balance and overall security, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin told RIA Novosti, commenting on the reports about the modernization of the U.S. missile defense system in northern Greenland.
“What they are doing is a pure provocation. There is a strategic balance, which at the moment gives a clear guarantee that any aggressor, if it attacks Russia, no matter if it is from the Pacific or the Atlantic, will be destroyed immediately,” said the Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation.
“We are systematically investing significant funds in the creation of both outer space and ground anti-aircraft and anti-missile defense. Our major industrial and administrative centers have long been closed. But soon, in two or three years, we will be completely equipped to see the launches of any hostile ballistic and cruise missiles,” said the Deputy Prime Minister of Russia.
Rogozin noted that Russia “is doing this in its own territory.” He said that the installation of Russian systems in Cuba, Nicaragua or Serbia would likely bring an immediate reaction from the U.S., despite U.S. missile defense systems in Poland, Romania, and Greenland.
“After the collapse of the Soviet Union, we did not invest money in the creation of an air defense system for a long time. From what happened in Yugoslavia in 1999, we saw what happens to a country that does not have a serious air defense system. It gets shot at point-blank range,” said Rogozin.
The Russian Deputy Prime was in Belgrade recently for the inauguration of Serbian President Aleksander Vucic.