Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday that Moscow would implement "mirror measures" if the United States goes ahead with its stated plan to deploy advanced missiles within Germany.

Washington said earlier this month that it would start stationing longer-range and hypersonic missiles in Germany by 2026 as part of its commitment to NATO.

Tensions between Russia and Western powers have reached their highest point since the Cold War following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

End of the US-Soviet anti-nuclear treaty

"If the US implements such plans, we will consider ourselves free from the previously imposed unilateral moratorium on the deployment of intermediate and shorter-range strike weapons, including increasing the capability of the coastal forces of our navy," Putin said at a naval parade in St Petersburg.

The Russian leader said that preparation for such a move was "in its final stage," adding that once ready, state, military and industrial targets could be hit within 10 minutes.

A 1987 US-Soviet treaty banned the deployment of ground-launched intermediate-range nuclear-capable missiles.

The US under former President Donald Trump's administration pulled out of the treaty in 2019, accusing Russia of violations.

Although Moscow also subsequently withdrew from the treaty, Putin said that it had continued to abide by the terms of the agreement, something that it would no longer do if such missiles were placed in Germany.

New nuclear arms race?

The US already maintains several military bases in Germany which date back to the Cold War. US missiles are already deployed across Europe, albeit with shorter ranges.

Washington and Berlin said in a joint statement that the new deployment would include SM-6 anti-aircraft missiles, nuclear-capable Tomahawk cruise missiles, and "developmental hypersonic weapons."

Germany's armed forces defended the plan, saying that Russia had already deployed Iskander missiles — which are capable of carrying nuclear warheads — in Kaliningrad, a Russian exclave sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania.

Such intermediate-range missiles would, Germany argued, be able to hit German cities.

Last week, Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Moscow would not rule out deploying nuclear missiles in response to the US move.

ab/wd (AP, dpa)