‘Russia will make banned missiles if US exits treaty’

CDU seeks Merkel successor

MOSCOW, Dec 5, (Agencies): Russia will develop missiles now banned under the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces treaty if the United States exits the arms control pact and starts making such weapons, President said on Wednesday.

The United States delivered Russia a 60-day ultimatum on Tuesday to come clean about what Washington says is a violation of the 1987 nuclear arms control treaty, saying it would be forced to start a six-month process of withdrawal if nothing changes.

Putin, in televised comments, accused the United States of blaming Russia for violations as a pretext for Washington to exit the pact.

Putin noted that many countries produce missiles banned under the INF treaty, but that Moscow and Washington had undertaken to limit themselves with the accord signed in 1987.

“Now it seems our American partners believe that the situation has changed so much that the United States must also have such a weapon. What’s our response? It’s simple: in that case we will also do this,” he said.

Putin on Wednesday dismissed US claims Russia is violating a major Cold War treaty limiting midrange nuclear arms, as a senior general lashed out at Washington’s attempts to “contain” Moscow.

The tense rhetoric comes a day after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington would withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty (INF) within 60 days if Russia does not dismantle missiles that the US claims breach the deal.

“First the American side stated its intention to withdraw from the treaty... then it began to look for the justifications for doing so,” Putin said in comments carried by Russian news agencies.

“The primary justification is that we are violating something. At the same time, as usual, no evidence of violations on our part has been provided,” he said.

The comments echoed earlier statements from the Russian foreign ministry, which dismissed the accusations against Moscow as “groundless”.

Putin

‘Review tax on high-earners’:

The French government will consider bringing back a tax on high earners which President Emmanuel Macron abolished early in his presidency, a key demand of “yellow vest” protesters who have been blocking roads and fuel depots for weeks, officials said Wednesday.

“If something isn’t working, we’re not dumb, we’ll change it,” government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux said on RTL radio, though “the issue is not on the table for now.”

Ending the ISF “wealth tax” on high earners was a key part of Macron’s pro-business presidential campaign, seen as a way of encouraging people to invest and hire in France.

The goal was also to stem an exodus of millionaires and billionaires toward countries with lower tax burdens such as Belgium or Luxembourg.

Vote for Merkel successor:

A knife-edge vote Friday will determine Angela Merkel’s successor as head of her party after 18 years at the helm, with the German chancellor’s own political fate and legacy on the line.

Merkel, the European Union’s most powerful leader, stunned observers in October with the announcement following a state election setback that she would not stand again as chairwoman of her centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU).

After years of turmoil within the party and the electorate over her disputed decision to keep the border open to more than one million asylum seekers, Merkel has said she will leave politics when her term ends in 2021.

Whether she can hold on to power until then will depend in large part on who the CDU elects to replace her at a party conference in Hamburg, with a Merkel loyalist and a longtime nemesis running neck-and-neck.

90 mafia suspects held:

Around 90 people suspected of belonging to the notorious ‘Ndrangheta mafia were rounded up on Wednesday in raids across several European and Latin American countries, Italian police said.

The suspects are thought to be key members of the powerful organised crime syndicate based in southern Italy.

They are accused of committing “serious crimes” including activities linked to international drug trafficking, Italian police said in a statement.

The vast anti-mafia operation was carried out by Italy’s anti-mafia and anti-terrorism force in collaboration with German, Belgian and Dutch authorities.

The ‘Ndrangheta – which derives its meaning from the Greek word for “heroism” – is made up of numerous village and family-based clans in Calabria, the rural, mountainous and under-developed “toe” of Italy’s boot.

Swiss Prez, 2 mins elected:

Switzerland’s parliament on Wednesday elected the country’s hardline finance minister to serve in the largely symbolic position of president next year, and also picked two women to fill vacant ministerial spots.

The choice of Ueli Maurer, a 68-year-old member of the populist rightwing Swiss People’s Party, came as no surprise as it was his turn among the seven members of the Swiss government to take on the rotating one-year presidency.

Maurer, who has been a member of government since 2009 and previously served as defence minister, served as president once before in 2013.

The parliament picked Viola Amherd and Karin Keller-Sutter to fill two vacant ministerial spots, achieving near-gender equality in the cabinet.

Amherd, a member of the centrist Christian Democratic Party, was chosen to replace party colleague and Swiss Energy Minister Doris Leuthard, who announced in September she would step down after 12 years in government.