Putin: U.S. in position to deploy new cruise missile in Europe

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that the United States was now in a position to deploy a new land-based cruise missile in Romania and Poland. Putin considered that a threat and Moscow would have to respond to. The Pentagon said on Monday it had tested a conventionally-configured cruise missile that hit its target after more than 500 km of flight. The test followed the U.S. formally withdrawing from the Cold War-era Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) on Aug.

2 after accusing Moscow of violating it, a charge dismissed by the Kremlin. The test would have been banned under the INF, which prohibited land-based missiles with a range of between 310 and 3,400 miles, reducing the ability of both countries to launch a nuclear strike at short notice. The Russian leader used a joint news conference to reassure people that an accident at a military testing site in northern Russia this month did not pose any threat to neighbouring countries or people living nearby.