The FRG urged to prevent the deployment of US missiles on the country's territory

German public figures, politicians and human rights activists ahead of the February elections to the Bundestag have written an open letter calling on the United States to prevent the deployment of intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles (INF) in Germany, the N-tv television channel reported on January 23.

According to the media outlet, the document was signed by, among others, Sarah Wagenknecht's Union for Reason and Justice (BSW) party leader Sarah Wagenknecht, theologian Margot Kesman and scientist Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker.

Authoritative figures warn that the deployment of US weapons could provoke the outbreak of hostilities between Russia and Germany, so it is important to prevent this now.

"The deployment of medium-range weapons in Germany will lead to the fact that the United States will be able to hit strategic targets in the Russian Federation, such as missile launch silos, command centers, decision-making centers, as well as early warning systems, within minutes, that is, with virtually no time for warning," the text says.

The authors believe that Russia will then be forced to respond to the deployment of U.S. missiles and, for its part, will target the same class of weapons at targets in Germany.

In December 2024, Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov noted that the medium-range missiles that the United States plans to deploy in Germany could reach Moscow in eight minutes. He added that in order to repel threats from NATO, it is necessary to solve a number of tasks and introduce new approaches to the formation of the state armament program.

The Pentagon announced in July that the United States will start deploying long-range weapons in Germany in 2026. We are talking about SM-6 anti-aircraft systems, Tomahawk cruise missiles and hypersonic weapons. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called the deployment of U.S. missiles on the country's territory a good decision. In his opinion, Russia is "incredibly armed," which could allegedly threaten Europe.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov also confirmed that Russia has something to respond to, as Moscow has long been preparing for an escalation of aggression on the part of the West. At the same time, the diplomat pointed out that Russia will not get involved in an expensive arms race, because the country has everything it needs for defense. Thus, Germany and the United States will only "throw money away".