We bet, we know: the United States will deploy missiles in Germany on a temporary basis

The deployment of American attack complexes in Germany is a new point of tension in relations between Russia and NATO. The deployment of intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles in Germany, planned from 2026, will be temporary, although the parties previously agreed on a long-term deployment, Izvestia found out. This may be an attempt by the United States to maintain the possibility of maneuver for negotiations with the Russian Federation. However, experts do not rule out that temporary basing may become permanent, as has already been the case with Typhon complexes in the Philippines. In response to these threats, Russia suspended a moratorium on the deployment of intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles. Despite this, analysts believe that a dialogue on confidence-building measures between Moscow and Washington is still possible.

How long will the United States deploy long-range weapons in Germany?

The deployment of long-range US missiles in Germany will be temporary, the German Ministry of Defense told Izvestia.

"The US administration has not announced any changes in plans for the temporary deployment of long—range weapons systems in Germany," an official representative of the defense department told Izvestia.

Photo: usarpac.army.mil

We are talking about Tomahawk cruise missiles with a range of up to 2.5 thousand km, multi-purpose SM-6 missiles (370-480 km) and promising hypersonic attack systems in non-nuclear equipment.

Interestingly, in July 2024, when Joe Biden was the owner of the White House, Berlin and Washington agreed on an "episodic" deployment of missiles with "long-term deployment planning", which should take place as early as next year. The German side has not officially changed its plans: the German Embassy in Moscow previously confirmed that the German government remains committed to the statement of the two countries dated July 10, 2024. Perhaps the United States retains a loophole to change the decision in the future, German political analyst Alexander Rahr told Izvestia.

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— Washington will immediately abandon this idea if there is a process of peacemaking in Ukraine. The United States places missiles only at the request of the Germans, who thus want to consolidate the United States in Europe and strengthen the American nuclear shield over their territory," the expert emphasized.

By the way, in August, Donald Trump did not rule out the possibility of reducing the American military presence in Europe as an element of the agreements on Ukraine.

Photo: Global Look Press/Oz Suguitan/Keystone Press Agency

Izvestia sent inquiries to the US Embassy in Russia and the Pentagon.

However, even the temporary deployment of weapons for exercises is sometimes delayed, as was the case with the American Typhon complex in the Philippines, Dmitry Stefanovich, a researcher at the IMEMO RAS Center for International Security, told Izvestia. These missile systems were deployed for exercises in April 2024 on the island of Luzon. In January of this year, the United States moved them to another area of the Philippines. And in September it became known that Typhon will appear in Japan.

The United States has not deployed medium-range missiles in Europe since the 1980s. As Der Spiegel magazine wrote earlier, the German authorities negotiated with the United States in secrecy, insisting on the deployment of American missiles specifically on German territory.

Germany's desire to host the complexes is linked to strengthening transatlantic ties, which is especially important in the era of the Ukrainian conflict and the Trump presidency. At the same time, there is no complete consensus among the political parties of Germany on this topic. The ruling CDU/CSU and SPD support the deployment of US missiles, the Greens are ambivalent, and the Leftists, Alternative for Germany and the Sarah Wagenknecht Union are against it. This was announced by senior researcher at IMEMO RAS Fyodor Basov in an interview with Izvestia.

Photo: usarpac.army.mil

Germany is also developing defense cooperation with other NATO countries. In May 2025, the German Ministry of Defense announced cooperation with the United Kingdom in the creation of systems with a range of more than 2 thousand km. These actions are a reaction to Russia's large—scale armament in recent years and the resulting threat to Euro-Atlantic security, the German Embassy in Russia told Izvestia.

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How will Russia respond to the deployment of US missiles

Washington's plans to deploy long—range weapons in Germany are a return to the attributes of the Cold War, Moscow said earlier. The deployment of American missiles "poses an obvious and immediate threat to the security of the Russian Federation," noted Russian Ambassador to Germany Sergey Nechaev. However, the unfriendly step of the United States cannot be considered an unsolvable problem, Dmitry Stefanovich believes.

"A much bigger problem in the future is building up the actual European arsenals of missiles of the appropriate classes," the expert told Izvestia.

Russia is already responding to the actions of Western countries. On August 4, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the lifting of the moratorium on the deployment of intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles, as the conditions for its preservation had disappeared. Moscow stated that they consider themselves entitled "to take appropriate measures and take appropriate steps if necessary."

RS-28 Sarmat

Photo: TASS/Press Service of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

The Russian Federation is also modernizing its nuclear potential and increasing its application capabilities. In particular, in 2023, the Sarmat complexes with a range of up to 18,000 km went on combat duty. The geography of Russian nuclear deterrence is also expanding: in 2023, non-strategic nuclear weapons of the Russian Federation were deployed on the territory of Belarus.

Among the retaliatory measures is the deployment of the Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile and other similar weapons. In addition, the potential of the Russian air and missile defense is being consistently increased.

Dmitry Stefanovich emphasizes that this problem can be fully solved only through coordinated regional and global arms control measures.

Photo: Global Look Press/MOD Russia/Twitter.com

However, a dialogue on strategic stability between the United States and Russia is not expected in the near future, says Ivan Loshkarev, associate professor of Political Theory at MGIMO, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia. According to him, attempts to separate the Ukrainian "dossier" and other tracks of relations between Russia and the United States are still stalling. At the same time, on September 12, Donald Trump announced possible restrictions against Russia in the oil and banking sectors, as well as duties.

"A bilateral dialogue on strategic stability between the Russian Federation and the United States makes no sense, since Washington has a number of allies who pose serious threats, because they have not only nuclear—powered delivery vehicles, but also nuclear weapons themselves," he told Izvestia.

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It is important that the Tomahawk missiles themselves do not actually fall under the strategic security dialogue. They are universal because they are not tied to a land base. Nevertheless, negotiations on confidence-building measures in connection with the deployment of missiles in Germany are possible. For example, site inspections could be organized to verify that these missiles are still not upgraded to carry nuclear charges, Ivan Loshkarev summarized.