ISTANBUL 

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen announced Wednesday that Denmark plans to invest in long-range precision weapons to "scare off the Russians," according to the DR broadcaster.

"The government has made a decision in principle that Denmark will, for the first time, build a military capacity with long-range precision weapons that will be able to hit targets at great distances and defeat enemy missile threats," Frederiksen said at a news conference

Stressing that the war in Ukraine is "moving borders," she noted that Russia will remain a threat "for many years to come," but reassured that there is currently no concrete threat of a Russian attack.

"The new weapons that the Danish Armed Forces are to have are being purchased to scare the Russians away," Frederiksen underscored. "Our security depends on our being able to defend ourselves."

The Russian ambassador to Denmark called the announcement “pure madness," according to a statement seen by DR.

"From now on, we must assume that Denmark is not only considering the possibility of a direct military confrontation with Russia but is also preparing for such a scenario," said Vladimir Barbin.

He noted that Moscow will "undoubtedly" take Denmark’s government statements into account, underlining that "no one" in the world has considered "publicly threatening a nuclear power"

Denmark announced last week that it will make its largest-ever arms purchase, acquiring additional ground-based air defense systems worth 58 billion Danish crowns ($9.11 billion).​​​​​​​