Russia Upset with Proposed U.S. Missile Defense System

The United States wants to erect a missile defense system in nations that were once controlled from Moscow by the Soviet Union. This expressed intention caused Russian President Vladimir Putin to accuse the U.S. of "imperialism" and "starting a new arms race," reports Reuters news service.

Putin said that Russia's recent testing of two new ICBM missiles, one of which the Russian president says can supposedly penetrate "any missile defense system," was a direct response to the United States' stated intentions. Putin says that the U.S. plan would turn Europe "into a powder keg."

"We are not the initiators of this new round of the arms race. There is no need to fear Russia's actions: they are not aggressive," he said. "They are a mere response to harsh and groundless unilateral actions by our partners and are aimed at maintaining the balance of forces in the world," Putin told a group of reporters at the Kremlin.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that the United States' supposed intentions behind the missile defense systems being erected are shallow and that Russia does not trust what the U.S. is telling it about such maneuvers.

"All they are saying is, 'Don't worry it's not aimed at you.' The arms race is starting again," the USA Today quotes Lavrov as saying.

"Our partners are stuffing eastern Europe with new weapons. What are we supposed to do? We cannot just observe all this. There is a clear desire by some international players to dictate their will to everyone without adhering to international law. International law has been replaced by political reasons. In our opinion it is nothing different from diktat, nothing different from imperialism. We have warned them then that we will come out with a response to maintain the strategic balance in the world. We conducted a test of a new strategic ballistic missile with multiple warheads, and of a new cruise missile, and will continue to improve our resources," Putin elaborated, as reported by Reuters.