Medvedev alerts new arms race might be impending

Vladimir Putin does not want Washington to be able to do "whatever it wants" when it comes to a continental missile defense system. Russian President Medvedev has taken that a step further in pronouncing that if NATO cannot reach agreement with Russia regarding the continental missile defense system, a new arms race could possibly be the result. Medvedev is requiring that Russia stand equally alongside NATO in the intelligence and production associated with the missile shield, or Russia will presume NATO plans to turn the shield against Russia as a weapon. Article resource – Russian President Medvedev threatens West with new arms race by Money Blog Newz.

Russia doesn’t take a new arms race casually

Medvedev’s comments indicate that he does not take the thought of a new arms race lightly. He categorized that potential scenario as "very grave.". It seemed like Medvedev nevertheless would like to work with NATO. A missile defense system and the sharing of intelligence would be part of that.

Al Jazeera explains that Russia and NATO cannot agree which nations are nuclear treats. While the United States point the finger at Iran and North Korea, Russia sees those nations as "relatively harmless in the near future.". The most severe concern Russia has over the missile defense system is that it could be transformed into an offensive system that could literally rain down nuclear missiles and bombs. The AFP news organization spoke with Russian military analyst Pavel Felgenhauer who said that President Medvedev wants to make sure the NATO-aligned missile defense shield will never hit Russia in a legally binding agreement.

The same as Batman and Robin

According to Al Jazeera’s Moscow correspondent Neave Barker, Dmitry Medvedev’s firm pronouncements regarding the potential for a brand new arms race have countered the notion that PM Vladimir Putin is really the one in charge, even though Putin’s words in Lisbon this past year appear to have been a lead-in to Medvedev’s address. A new arms race might not achieve the goal that Medvedev has trying to not be the Batman to Putin (Robin) anymore. This is what United States documents that WikiLeaks released suggest.

Citations

Al Jazeera English

english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2010/11/20101130124811926553.html

Coverage of Medvedev address by Russia Today

youtube.com/watch?v=9pduEpB8cgs