President Vladimir V. Putin declared on Friday that Russia would produce new intermediate-range nuclear-capable missiles and then decide whether to deploy them within range of NATO nations in Europe and American allies in Asia.
Mr. Putin’s threat was vaguely worded: He said nothing about timetables for deploying the weapons, and by blaming the United States for bringing similar missiles into training exercises in Europe and Asia, he seemed to be signaling he was open to negotiations.
But his timing was critical, because he made the announcement just as major elections were about to begin in Britain and France, and days ahead of the 75th anniversary NATO summit in Washington that starts on July 9. And it appeared to be Mr. Putin’s latest attempt to raise the stakes in his conflict with the West, coming less than two weeks after his visit to North Korea rattled nerves in the United States and those of American allies in Asia.
The United States pulled out of the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in 2019, during the Trump administration, after years of American accusations that Russia was cheating on the accord. The treaty had banned U.S. and Russian forces from having land-based cruise or ballistic missiles with ranges between about 300 and 3,400 miles.
It was one in a series of treaty withdrawals that marked the end of more than a half-century of traditional nuclear arms control, in which the key agreements were negotiated in Washington and Moscow. Only one such treaty is left: New START, which limits the intercontinental weapons each nation can hold. It expires in February 2026.
Mr. Putin could have announced plans to bolster his force of intermediate weapons at any point in the past five years, so his decision to do it now was notable. In the interim, the Pentagon has moved to deploy some modified weapons in Asia, ultimately intended to counter a growing Chinese nuclear force. But the United States has not permanently redeployed any in Europe.
