Russian President Vladimir Putin warns he'll retaliate against NATO missiles

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia will retaliate against the placement of U.S. missiles in nearby countries such as Romania, according to Russia’s state-run news agency TASS.

The United States launched a ground-based missile defense system earlier this month in Romania. The system is meant to defend Europe against rogue states like Iran and not intended to target Moscow’s missiles, Washington has said.

Putin issued his threat during a news conference Friday after meeting with Greek Prime Minister Aleksis Tsipras in Athens.

“If yesterday in those areas of Romania people simply didn’t know what it means to be in the cross hairs, then today we will be forced to carry out certain measures to ensure our security,” Putin said.

NATO, which operates the missile defense system, said the missiles could not be used offensively as they don’t include explosives and are designed to simply “punch” targets out of the sky.

“Any threats from Russia are unjustified and irresponsible,” said NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu. “Russia knows full well that our Ballistic Missile Defense system is defensive and neither designed nor directed against Russia.”