President Vladimir Putin continues to use strong rhetoric not only linked to what he sees as Kyiv’s “responsibilities” to adhere to Minsk II but also in an increasingly controversial area of Russia’s military modernization: namely the future role of the country’s nuclear deterrent. Moscow has also claimed that Kyiv’s ceasefire violations are not as widely reported as those on the part of the Donbas separatists (Vesti, June 9). On June 16, during the Russian arms show Armiya 2015, in Kubinka near Moscow, Putin issued a statement referring to the modernization of 40 Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM). In so doing, the …read more
Source: The Jamestown Foundation