US missile shield holding up nuclear deal – Putin

The two largest nuclear powers say they are close to  agreeing on a successor to the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction  Treaty (START I), although U.S. President Barack Obama and  Russian President Dmitry Medvedev have yet to clinch a deal.

Asked by a reporter what the biggest problem was in the  talks, Putin said: “What is the problem? The problem is that  our American partners are building an anti-missile shield and  we are not building one.”

Speaking to reporters in the Far Eastern Russian city of  Vladivostok, Putin said the U.S. plans would fundamentally  disrupt the Cold War balance of power and Russia would thus be  forced to develop new offensive weapons.

The comments, from Russia’s most powerful politician,  showed the seriousness of the problems hampering talks on a  replacement for START I and illustrated the deep unease still  felt in Moscow over Washington’s missile defence plans.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Ian Kelly  rejected any attempt to broaden the START negotiations to cover  defensive weapons systems, although another senior U.S.  official voiced optimism over the talks.

“We have made substantial progress in the negotiations and  remain confident that when talks resume in January that we’ll  be able to finalize an agreement,” the senior official said.

In September, Obama said the United States would scrap  parts of George W. Bush’s missile defense plans, a step seen as  an attempt to allay Kremlin fears that the system was a direct  threat to Russia.

Cutting the thousands of nuclear weapons accumulated during  the Cold War is the centerpiece of Obama’s efforts to “reset”  relations with Russia, which the United States is pressing to  offer more help on Afghanistan and Iran.

Russia’s leaders have remained wary about Obama’s revised  missile defense plans, which are based on sea- and land-based  missile interceptors in Europe.

“If we are not developing an anti-missile shield, then  there is a danger that our partners, by creating such ‘an  umbrella,’ will feel completely secure and thus can allow  themselves to do what they want, disrupting the balance, and  aggressiveness will rise immediately,” Putin said.
“In order to preserve balance … we need to develop  offensive weapons systems,” Putin said, echoing a pledge by  Medvedev last week to develop a new generation of strategic  nuclear weapons.

Putin said Moscow wanted more information about the U.S.  plans in exchange for details about Russia’s deployed nuclear  offensive missiles.

“The problems of anti-missile defense and offensive weapons  are very tightly linked to each other,” he said, adding that  talks on a new treaty were moving in a generally positive  direction.