Russian President Vladimir Putin has recently committed much time and effort to, on the one hand, intimidate and, on the other, to coax the Western public, businessmen and potential investors into accepting Russia as a benign power that is simply defending its national interests. Putin announced that, in 2015, Russia will procure “40 new intercontinental ballistic missiles [ICBM] capable of penetrating any possible enemy missile defense” (see EDM, June 18). Putin followed this statement up with coercion: “If someone threatens our territories, we will be forced to target our modern attack weapons on the territories from which the threat originates” …read more
Source: The Jamestown Foundation