Vladimir Putin: Russia is developing missiles to breach new US defence system but 'it's not an arms race'

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

Vladimir Putin insists that Russia is not getting into a new arms race with the US - despite announcing a new range of missiles specifically designed to beat American defences.

Speaking to defence officials on 10 November, Mr Putin accused the US of developing new missile defence systems in order to gain "neutralise" Russia's nuclear deterrent.

The Russian President said Washington was deliberately seeking to gain a "decisive military superiority". In response, he said Moscow would build ballistic strike systems "capable of penetrating any missile defences".

But the following day, Mr Putin insisted that "we are not being dragged into a new arms race". "Our task is to make up for what was lost in the nineties," he said.

Washington has previously argued that its new missile shields were aimed to fend off future threats from the likes of North Korea and Iran, and that they would be ineffective against an arsenal such as Russia's.

Yet Mr Putin accused the US of a "cover-up", arguing that the US continued to work on the defensive systems despite pledges from Iran to curb its military programme.

"So, references to the Iranian and the North Korean nuclear missile threat just have served to cover up the true plans, and their true task is to neutralize nuclear potential of other nuclear powers, ... Russia in particular," Mr Putin said. "Regrettably, our concerns and cooperation proposals haven't been taken into account."