Putin warns arms race not over yet

Take him at his word!

President Vladimir Putin warned yesterday that the U.S.-Russian arms race is not over and called for a strengthening of his nation’s nuclear and conventional forces so Moscow can better resist foreign pressure.

“It is premature to speak of the end of the arms race,” said Mr. Putin, who pointed out in the nationally televised address that U.S. defense spending is 25 times higher than Russia’s and said his country needs to catch up. “Their house is their fortress? Well done,” he said. “But it means that we must build our house strongly, reliably, because we see what is going on in the world. “We must always be ready to counter any attempts to pressure Russia in order to strengthen positions at our expense,” he continued. “The stronger our military is, the less temptation there will be to exert such pressure on us.”

The words of the Gipper, Ronaldus Magnus, come to mind here: