MOSCOW, June 5. /TASS/. Member of the State Duma Defense committee Colonel General Viktor Zavarzin has said that Russia has counter-arguments to the possible deployment of US nuclear missiles in Europe.

"If the Americans indeed deploy their ground-based nuclear missiles in Europe, in this case we will face the necessity of retaliating. And we have such an opportunity," Zavarzin told TASS on Friday.

He confirmed that the current state and technical equipment of the Russian Armed Forces made it possible to respond immediately to all challenges and threats emanating from outside the country’s borders. "In this case, the US administration needs to weigh everything carefully before making such ill-considered steps," he said.

The Associated Press reported on Thursday that the Obama administration was considering the deployment of land-based missiles in Europe "that could pre-emptively destroy the Russian weapons". The AP cites an unclassified portion of a report written by the office of chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey "that examines weapons the US could develop and deploy if freed from INF treaty constraints."