Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday accused the US of violating a landmark Cold War-era nuclear arms pact and harboring aggressive intentions, and pledged to fend off any potential threats at a fraction of the US cost.
Putin, speaking during a meeting with the nation’s top military brass, said that the US missile defense sites in Romania containing interceptor missiles could also house ground-to-ground intermediate-range cruise missiles, which would be in violation of the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty.
He added that US launches of target vehicles as part of tests represented another violation of the pact that bans all land-based cruise and ballistic missiles with a range between 500km and 5,500km.
Washington has rejected claims of perceived violations and accused Russia of breaking the pact by developing a new cruise missile, which Moscow has denied.
“They are searching for some violations on our part while consistently infringing on it themselves,” Putin said. “All that seriously affects security in Europe and in the whole world.”
Putin also pointed at the new US National Security Strategy report as proof of what he said were Washington’s aggressive intentions.
The deployment of NATO forces near Russia’s borders has threatened its security, he said.
“When we move military units on our own territory, they present it as some kind of a threat,” he said. “And when they move military bases, infrastructure and new weapons near our borders they present it as something normal. It’s probably normal for those who do it, but not for us.”
Putin mentioned NATO’s US-led missile defense system and efforts to develop new prospective conventional weapons among other security challenges.
Russia has long expressed concern about the US’ Prompt Global Strike program — prospective conventional weapons systems that would be capable of delivering a quick precision strike anywhere in the world within an hour.
“Why do they need such weapons?” Putin said. “I believe they want it for one thing — blackmail — as it creates an illusion of a possible strike with impunity.”
Putin said the Russian military has all the means to protect the nation and that the focus will be on cutting-edge military technologies to maintain military parity with the US and its allies.
“We will not let ourselves be drawn into a senseless arms race that will exhaust our economic potential,” he said.
Russian Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu said that a massive arms modernization program has allowed the military to commission 182 intercontinental ballistic missiles, more than 1,000 aircraft, more than 3,200 tanks and other armored vehicles and more than 150 navy ships over the past five years.
The Russian military gained “priceless” experience during the Syrian campaign, with more than 48,000 servicemen spending shifts there, he said, adding that up to 90 percent of all Russian combat pilots flew at least 100 combat sorties each to the total of 34,000 missions in Syria since the start of the Russian air campaign in September 2015.
Shoigu said that the military had killed more than 60,000 militants, including 2,840 Russian citizens, during its campaign in Syria.
The military tested the entire range of its arsenals in Syria, including long-range cruise missiles launched by navy ships, submarines and strategic bombers, and ground-based Iskander ballistic missiles, Shouigu said.
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