Vladimir Putin has told Boris Johnson that he wants immediate talks to secure clear legal agreements that Nato will not expand eastwards. Russia has threatened to deploy intermediate-range nuclear missiles in Europe as a response to what it claims are Nato plans to do the same thing. The missiles were withdrawn after the US and the Soviet Union signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty in 1987. Ryabkov told Russia’s RIA news agency that Moscow would deploy nuclear missiles if Nato refused to engage in talks. “And I would note that while US missiles will be conventional, Russia would probably deploy its missiles with nuclear warheads.

Source: The Guardian December 14, 2021 02:27 UTC