Putin accuses U.S. of sparking arms race. Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed the annual Munich Conference on Security Policy in Germany on Saturday. He delivered some very strong messages concerning the United States. Here are some quotes from his address:
-"One state, the United States, has overstepped its national borders in every way."
-"The United States has overstepped its borders in all spheres - economic, political and humanitarian, and has imposed itself on other states."
-"Unilateral, illegitimate actions have not solved a single problem, they have become a hotbed of further conflicts."
-"It is a world of one master, one sovereign ... it has nothing to do with democracy...This is nourishing the wish of countries to get nuclear weapons. This is very dangerous, nobody feels secure anymore because nobody can hide behind international law."
Putin never mentioned American actions in Iraq or Afghanistan, but he did refer to the United States' deployment of a missile defense system in eastern Europe, saying that the project is not in the interest of "the Europeans". U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates replied to Putin's remarks by saying "one Cold War is enough" and that he would go to Moscow to try to reduce tensions. These are probably the harshest words spoken by a Russian leader towards the U.S. since the end of the Cold War. Clearly, there is still a major struggle behind the scenes between these two world powers. Putin knows his nation is far from competing with the U.S. economically or militarily, but he is not above using Russian oil as leverage in conflicts with the West. It will be very interesting to see where this contenious relationship goes from here.
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