Moscow:
Russia will have to develop new offensive weapon systems capable of piercing American missile shields in order to maintain balance with the US and prevent it from feeling it "can do anything" it wants, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said today.
"To maintain the power balance while not developing AMD (anti-missile defence), like the US, we'll have to develop offensive arms," Putin told reporters in Vladivostok in the country's Far East Pacific Coast, where he is on a working visit.
"The issues of anti-missile defence and offensive weapon systems are inter-connected. Even during the Cold War, the peace was maintained thanks to this balance of power, which includes the correlation of forces between AMD, air defence and offensive arms," Putin said in remarks televised by Vesti news channel.
His statement came against the backdrop of Moscow and Washington failing to reach the December 5 deadline to put in place a new arms cut pact to replace the Soviet-era Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) due to hiccups in verification procedures.