Page 40 - The Lord's Vengeance Of His Temple2018-05

WATCH THE KING OF THE NORTH

Russian experts warn that a new arms
race with the West looks inevitable

Jorge Benitez | March 23, 2012

The daily news of
the world's most
powerful alliance.

From Fred Weir, the
Christian Science Mon-
itor:

A top Russian defense
official warned Thurs-
day that NATO's plans
to install an anti-
missile shield in Eu-
rope are a "litmus test"
for future relations be-
tween Moscow and the
West.

Prime Minister Putin practicing with a rifle on a firing range in Russia

"This is a very sensitive subject for us," says Andrei Klimov, deputy chair of the State Duma's
international affairs committee. "It looks like the Americans are just stringing us along. If this
anti-missile system is really not directed against Russia, why not sign a legal document declar-
ing that? Why not to give Russia access to real monitoring of the system?"

Russian military experts say the planned missile shield would, in its later stages, un-

dermine the country's nuclear deterrent. Unless the US makes a legally binding pledge

never to use the weapons against Russia and makes Moscow an equal partner in a joint system,

they say, a new arms race with the West looks inevitable.

At a Defense Ministry meeting Tuesday, President Dmitry Medvedev said Russia was already

preparing a range of countermeasures to defeat NATO missile defense, including forward
deployments of tactical nuclear missiles in Russia's Baltic enclave of

Kaliningrad. . . .

The Moscow daily Kommersant reported last week that a visit by US State Department Special
Envoy for Strategic Stability and Missile Defense Ellen Tauscher included handover of a
package of missile-defense information that Russian military specialists evaluated as use-
less." (photo: AP)

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