Moscow (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the resumption of production of 5,500-kilometer-range missiles carrying nuclear warheads as he announced the end of a treaty with the United States.

The agreement was reached in 1998

This agreement to stop the production of these medium-range missiles was signed between Russia and the US in 1988. At that time, Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev had signed an agreement in this regard with the then US President Ronald Reagan. In 2019, the US withdrew from the agreement, accusing Russia of violating it, but Putin on behalf of Russia has formally announced the end of the agreement on Friday.

Necessary for Russia's security: Putin

In the meeting of the National Security Council, Putin said that now we will build these missiles again to give new strength to our attack. It is necessary to do this to ensure the security of Russia.

He said that even after America's withdrawal from the agreement, Russia did not start production of these medium-range missiles after 2019, but America not only produced these missiles but is now sending them to Europe as well. So now we will have to produce these missiles for our own security.