Friday, 3 February 2012Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin appeared on the program "Cold Politics" (Kholodnaya Politika) on Russian First Channel on Thursday and said the anti-missile system the U.S. and NATO allies are deploying in Europe "is undoubtedly aimed at neutralizing the nuclear rocket capability of Russia."
Putin said the anti-missile system can cover "territory to the Ural (Mountains), the places where our ground nuclear forces are based."
Putin said "today there is no threat from Iran or North Korea" and NATO is not offering any guarantees, even written, that the (anti-missile) system is not targeted against Russia.
The Russian prime minister said the U.S. is the initiator of the deployment of the anti-missile system in Europe and reminded the U.S. is the only country in history to use nuclear weapons, and that against a non-nuclear country – Japan – in 1945.
"What should we do, just black this out from our memory?" Putin asked. He said, "We will always respond to threats that appear along our borders."
Supporting his statement, Putin said that Russia is the only country besides the U.S. that has a "nuclear triad" – ground, marine and air nuclear forces.
Putin said Russia's "partners in the UN Security Council" produce evidence of the presence of weapons of mass destruction in some countries and call for the invasion of these countries or changing the governments of these countries. He said he had doubts about the sincerity of these partners.
"It seems to me our partners don't want allies, they want vassals," Putin said. They want to rule" but "Russia doesn't work that way," he concluded.
Putin has cultivated an image as a tough leader, and a person who will always promote a strong Russia, playing key roles in world events. His criticism of NATO's anti-missile system comes just a month before Russian presidential elections where Putin is seeking to return to the nation's top post after serving as prime minister since 2008. Prior to that he served two four-year terms as president. |
Friday, 3 February 2012
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