Deputy U.S. Defense Chief Says Russia 'Playing With Fire'
The deputy U.S. defense chief says he is worried by what he calls Russian provocations, saying Moscow is "playing with fire" by making veiled threats about its nuclear capabilities.
Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work told the House Armed Services Committee on June 25 that Russia's effort to use its nuclear forces to intimidate its neighbors have failed, actually bringing NATO allies closer.
Work said Russia continued to violate the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty signed between the Soviet Union and the United States in 1987, banning ground-based cruise and ballistic missiles with ranges of 500 to 5,500 kilometers.
Work said the Pentagon was developing options for President Barack Obama to consider to respond to the treaty violations and would not let Russia "gain significant military advantage through INF violations."
Based on reporting by Reuters and AP
Putin Vows To Continue Russian Military Modernization
President Vladimir Putin has vowed to continue a sweeping military modernization effort, saying a "powerful army equipped with modern weapons is the guarantor of sovereignty and territorial integrity of Russia."1
Speaking on June 25 at a Kremlin meeting with graduates of military academies, Putin also said that Moscow has no aggressive intentions and aims to "settle any disputes exclusively by political means with respect to international law and interests of other nations."
Russia's military modernization plan aims to spend 22 trillion rubles (more than $400 billion) through 2020.
Putin's comments come a day after NATO member states agreed to increase the strength and capability of the alliance's rapid-response force and approved other measures aimed at responding “more rapidly and more effectively to threats."
Relations between Moscow and the West have dropped to their lowest point since the Cold War after Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in March 2014.