MAFRA, Portugal — President Vladimir Putin on Friday evoked one of the most dangerous confrontations of the Cold War to highlight Russian opposition to a proposed U.S. missile defense system in Europe, comparing it to the Cuban missile crisis of 45 years ago.
The comments — made at the end of a summit between Russia and European Union that failed to resolve several festering disputes — were the latest in a series of belligerent statements from Putin.
During a news conference, Putin reiterated Russia’s opposition to U.S. plans to put elements of a missile defense system in the former Soviet bloc countries of Poland and the Czech Republic, which are now NATO members.
“Analogous actions by the Soviet Union, when it deployed missiles in Cuba, prompted the ‘Caribbean crisis,’” Putin said, using the Russian term for the Cuban missile crisis.
“For us, the situation is technologically very similar. We have withdrawn the remains of our bases from Vietnam, from Cuba, and have liquidated everything there, while at our borders, such threats against our country are being created,” he said.
The October 1962 crisis erupted when President Kennedy demanded Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev remove his country’s nuclear missiles from Cuba because they could have been used to attack the United States. The U.S. imposed a naval blockade on Cuba and the world teetered on the edge of war before the Soviets backed down.
Putin also suggested the tension was much lower than in 1962 because the United States and Russia are now “partners,” not Cold War enemies.
The Russian leader said there has been no concrete U.S. response to his counterproposals for cooperation on missile defense, but added that the United States is now listening to Russia’s concerns about its plans and seeking to address them.
In Washington, White House press secretary Dana Perino underscored those remarks rather than the Cuban missile crisis analogy, saying “there’s no way you could walk away without thinking that he thinks that we can work together.”
The U.S. plan is part of a wider missile shield involving defenses in California and Alaska that the United States says are to defend against any long-range missile attack from countries such as North Korea or Iran.
Russia opposes the idea, saying Iran is decades away from developing missile technology that could threaten Europe or North America. It says the U.S. bases are aimed at spying on Russian facilities and undermining Russia’s missile deterrent force.
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