History lesson: Putin warned west about U.S. missile deployments

 

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FRN

2016 St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), Vladimir Putin urged international journalists to report genuinely on the impending danger that is a nuclear arms race.

Back in 2007, Putin informed the Western world that Russia will develop its defensive weaponry to counter US advances eastward. This was stated in response to the US 'missile defense' MD system in Europe that was being developed at the time (and previously prohibited in international law.)

In 2002, the United States unilaterally and without consultation with Russia, withdrew from the landmark Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty. President George W. Bush noted that the treaty is “now behind us,” describing the ABM Treaty as a Cold War relic.

Signed in 1972, the ABM Treaty barred both the US and the USSR/Russia from deploying national defenses against long-range ballistic missiles. The treaty was based on the premise that if either superpower constructed a strategic defense, the other would build up its offensive nuclear forces to offset the defense. 

The superpowers would therefore quickly be put on a path toward a never-ending offensive-defensive arms race, as each tried to balance its counterpart’s actions. Until Bush took office, the Treaty was referred to as a “cornerstone of strategic stability” as it facilitated later agreements, reducing U.S. and Russian strategic nuclear arsenals.

The US, assuming that a weakened Russia will never again be in a position to counter US hegemonic power, proceeded to encroach on Russia’s borders through the manipulation of international law and mythical NATO objectives.