Putin: Russia to produce previously banned missiles

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that his country should start producing short- and medium-range missiles that had previously been banned under an arms treaty with the United States.

"It seems that we need to start producing these systems again," Putin said during a meeting with senior security officials, referring to missiles with a range of between 500 and 5,500 kilometers that were banned under a treaty that was scrapped in 2019.

Putin canceled the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty late last year, against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine and the crisis with the West. In mid-October, Russia conducted ballistic missile tests with the aim of preparing its forces for a "massive nuclear strike" in response to a similar hostile strike.

The treaty, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1996, aims to ban all nuclear tests, but has not been implemented because a number of major nuclear states, most notably the United States and China, have not joined it.

Putin had also said earlier last year that he was "not ready to say" whether Russia would conduct live nuclear tests. "I am not ready to say whether tests should be resumed or not," he added, hailing the development of new, high-powered missiles that can carry nuclear warheads.