In a televised speech, Putin called out the U.S. for taking advantage of Russia's manifest weakness in the years following the collapse of the Soviet Union, a time when Russia's economy was at a standstill, its borders were changing, and it went from being a world power with enormous global influence to a humbled and chastened country.
What exactly, is Moscow doing to guarantee global peace? According to Putin, Russia has developed a battery of new weapons that are capable of reaching any target around the world, and which are "Absolutely invulnerable to any air or missile defense system." If America builds a defense system based on intercepting missiles that use ballistic technology, Russia's answer is to develop missiles that don't use that technology and can therefore evade being blown out of the sky on the way to their target.
This is an election year in Russia, after all, and Putin is up for re-election in two weeks.
He wants to shore up support at home, especially because Russia's economy continues to falter.
Putin only briefly brought up his country's involvement in the civil war in Syria, where Russia has been fighting alongside the government of Bashar al Assad for years.
Toward the end of his speech, Putin said that "No one has managed to restrain Russia." Despite years of U.S. sanctions, which he called "Illegal," Putin said that that everything those sanctions were intended to prevent "Has already happened." And he's not entirely wrong.
Putin certainly turned up the rhetorical heat between the U.S. and Russia last week, but it's important to remember that by and large, he means what he says.
http://thefederalist.com/2018/03/05/putins-heats-up-anti-us-rhetoric-in-state-of-the-union-speech/
What exactly, is Moscow doing to guarantee global peace? According to Putin, Russia has developed a battery of new weapons that are capable of reaching any target around the world, and which are "Absolutely invulnerable to any air or missile defense system." If America builds a defense system based on intercepting missiles that use ballistic technology, Russia's answer is to develop missiles that don't use that technology and can therefore evade being blown out of the sky on the way to their target.
This is an election year in Russia, after all, and Putin is up for re-election in two weeks.
He wants to shore up support at home, especially because Russia's economy continues to falter.
Putin only briefly brought up his country's involvement in the civil war in Syria, where Russia has been fighting alongside the government of Bashar al Assad for years.
Toward the end of his speech, Putin said that "No one has managed to restrain Russia." Despite years of U.S. sanctions, which he called "Illegal," Putin said that that everything those sanctions were intended to prevent "Has already happened." And he's not entirely wrong.
Putin certainly turned up the rhetorical heat between the U.S. and Russia last week, but it's important to remember that by and large, he means what he says.
http://thefederalist.com/2018/03/05/putins-heats-up-anti-us-rhetoric-in-state-of-the-union-speech/
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