ATHENS, May 28. /TASS/. Russia will have to take retaliatory measures to minimize the threat coming from the deployment of US missile defense components in Romania, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told a news conference after talks with Greek Prime Minister Aleksis Tsipras.
"We will be forced to react in the proper way. Before, certain parts of the Romanian territory were unaware of what it is like to be a target. Today we will have to take certain measures to maintain our security," he said.
He remarked that currently Romania accommodated missiles having a range of 500 kilometers, but in several years from now there might emerge missiles with a range of 1,000 kilometers.
"We even know the date when these missiles will go operational. Who can say this does not threaten us? It does threaten our nuclear forces. What is still worse, these compact systems may be armed with attack missiles right away. And these missiles have a range of 2,400 kilometers," Putin said.
On May 12, NATO’s Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg visited the Romanian military base at Deveselu (Olt county in the south of the country, 180 kilometers from Bucharest) to declare the operational readiness of the US missile defense complex Aegis stationed there.