Putin had condemned NATO’s expansion and the US plan to include Poland and the Czech Republic in a missile defense shield in a speech that was nationally-televised. He had said to the State Council that he was unhappy with NATO’s action.
“It is already clear that a new phase in the arms race is unfolding in the world,” Putin had said to the State Council.
“It is not our fault, because we did not start it,” he added.
Putin speaks less than a month before Russia has its presidential elections in which they will vote for his successor. In the speech addressed to the top politicians, officials, and generals, Putin said that other countries have spent far more many than Russia has on new weapons.
He said that Russia will always respond to the challenges of a new arms race by developing more hi-tech weaponry.
Putin said that Russia still has not seen any real steps towards finding a compromise in regards to NATO’s activities in both Central and Western Europe.
“In effect, we are forced to retaliate, to take corresponding decisions. Russia has, and always will have, responses to these new challenges,” Putin has said.