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US facilities capable of intercepting Russian strategic missiles — envoy

US missile defense facilities in Europe are already capable of intercepting Russian delivery vehicles, Russia’s envoy to NATO says, the situation will get still worse in 2018

The Romanian military base in Deveselu AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda

The Romanian military base in Deveselu

© AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda

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MOSCOW, May 24. /TASS/. US missile defense facilities in Europe are already capable of intercepting Russian delivery vehicles, Russia’s envoy to NATO Alexander Grushko said in a Moscow-Brussels video conference.

"According to our military analysts, even the current configuration of facilities stationed at Deveselu is capable of intercepting Russian strategic delivery vehicles," he said. "The situation will get still worse in 2018, when the facility in Poland is up and running. This poses obvious risks to Russia’s security and seriously distorts strategic stability, which has for decades been the pillar of peace and security globally."

Grushko said that Russia would be taking all retaliatory measures in view of the emerging risks.

The Romanian military base in Deveselu (Olt County, in the south of the country 180 kilometers away from Bucharest) on May 12 saw an inaugural ceremony timed for the commissioning of the US ground missile defense complex Aegis. The missile defense base takes up an area of 175 hectares. It consists of a radar, a missile defense control center and mobile batteries of MK-41 launchers with SM-3 interceptor missiles (Standard-3). NATO’s Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg officially declared the defense complex was operational.

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