Russian Federation has been modernizing its strategic arsenal in response to the USA global deployment of missile defense systems, President Vladimir Putin said Thursday. “We need to improve our people’s lives”, Mr Putin said, in remarks aimed at widespread complaints over the erosion of social security during the recession that ended past year.
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“President Putin has confirmed what the United States government has known all along”, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said. “It may appear someday, but by that time we will develop something new”.
Russian Federation has also developed unmanned underwater devices that move much faster than submarines and torpedoes and can carry nuclear warheads, Putin said, adding: “It’s just fantastic!”
“We could do the same thing and Russians have had that for years”, Binnendijk told USA TODAY.
Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White also said the Defense Department wasn’t surprised, adding that the USA military is prepared to defend the nation.
“I’d like to stress that Russia’s growing military might does not threaten anyone, and we have never planned to use this potential for offensive, even more so aggressive purposes”, Putin said.
He also claimed Russian Federation has a new supersonic cruise missile that can overwhelm North Atlantic Treaty Organisation defenses as well as underwater drones capable of carrying nuclear bombs in an annual state of the nation speech to parliament.
Russian President Vladimir Putin in an annual message to the Federal Assembly said that active testing of the new intercontinental ballistic missile Sarmat began in Russia.
Putin’s announcement that Russian Federation has developed a nuclear-powered cruise missile marks the first time such weapon was officially mentioned.
He said of the West: “They need to take account of a new reality and understand”.
Russian Federation has developed underwater unmanned weapons capable of moving at very big depths between continents with a speed much higher than that of modern submarines, torpedoes and surface vessels, Putin said.
The U.S. has consistently argued that missile defense systems in Europe are not aimed at Moscow, but rather created to defend against threats from Iran and North Korea.
“My point of view is the individuals who have said that a new cold war has started are not really analysts; they do propaganda”, Putin said. He would not elaborate, saying only that they will significantly boost the Russian military’s capability.
Mr Putin also announced a web contest to name a new, high-speed underwater drone which carries nuclear warheads and can destroy aircraft carriers and coastal facilities.
Putin’s speech was accompanied by a series of computer-generated images showing the strength of his underwater drone, which he says operates at a speed ten times faster than a typical vessel, making it near impossible to intercept. NSA director Mike Rogers told lawmakers Tuesday that the USA has not done enough to deter Putin from meddling.
FILE – Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md.is seen during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, July 23, 2015. “We don’t regard that as the behavior of a responsible global player”, she added.
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President Putin has so far done little campaigning, and until now said little about his plans for the next six years.
