Putin vows 'arms race' response
President Putin told the State Council he was not happy with Nato
Russia's President Vladimir Putin says the world is engaged in a new
arms race and Nato is failing to accommodate Russia's concerns.
In a nationally-televised speech, he condemned Nato's expansion and
the US plan to include Poland and the Czech Republic in a missile
defence ****eld.
"It is already clear that a new phase in the arms race is unfolding in
the world," Mr Putin said.
"It is not our fault, because we did not start it," he said.
Russia has, and always will have, responses to these new challenges
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7234817.stm
Mr Putin was speaking less than a month before Russians elect his
successor.
In his speech, to the State Council - Russia's top politicians,
officials and generals - he said other countries were spending far
more than Russia on new weapons.
But Russia would always respond to the challenges of a new arms race
by developing more hi-tech weaponry, he said.
Military muscle
Referring to Nato's activities in Central and Eastern Europe, Mr Putin
said "there are many discussions on these, but... we have still not
seen any real steps towards finding a compromise".
"In effect, we are forced to retaliate, to take corresponding
decisions. Russia has, and always will have, responses to these new
challenges," he said.
Russia has been using oil revenues to bolster its military
In December, Russia said it was planning naval exercises in the
Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.
It has also resumed long-range patrols by its bomber aircraft.
The practice was suspended after the collapse of the Soviet Union and
was revived last August, as part of a more assertive foreign policy
pursued by President Putin.
Higher oil prices have enabled Russia to re-invest in its armed
forces, but its military capabilities remain far below what they were
during the Soviet era.
The BBC's World Affairs correspondent Nick Childs says Mr Putin's
language will add to growing worries in the West about Russia's new
assertiveness.
Our correspondent says there was a time when Moscow appeared weakened,
short of money, preoccupied with domestic problems, and relatively
passive in terms of foreign policy.
But he says it is clear that Mr Putin is sending a none-too-subtle
message that Russia is back on the international stage
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