Putin calls for response to US «threat» :: Charter'97 :: News

Russia must strengthen its military and step up spying on the west in response to US plans to site parts of a missile defence shield in eastern Europe, President Vladimir Putin warned on Wednesday.

Addressing newly-promoted military and security officers, Mr Putin said new US military bases in eastern Europe and the failure of Nato countries to ratify an updated version of a Cold War treaty capping levels of conventional forces in Europe were threats to Russian security.

“One of our absolute priorities is an all-round strengthening of the armed forces,” Mr Putin told the Kremlin gathering. He listed not just terrorism but US military plans among “global threats” to be tackled.

“Both the situation in the world and internal political interests demand that Russia’s foreign intelligence service constantly increases its resources, above all in the field of information and analytical support for the country’s leadership,” Mr Putin added.

The president has spoken often of the need to strengthen Russia’s military and intelligence capabilities after years of underinvestment.

But his comments marked the clearest link yet between issues such as the US missile defence plans and the need to strengthen espionage activities.

Both the US and the UK have reported increased Russian spying.

Mr Putin’s remarks also showed he was determined to maintain pressure over the missile shield plans in spite of making recent offers to substitute a planned US radar station in the Czech Republic with use of a Soviet-built radar in Azerbaijan, or a new radar in southern Russia.

“There has so far been no response to our proposed alternative plans for defence against these hypothetical – I want to underline, hypothetical – missile threats,” Mr Putin noted.

Russia disputes US claims that the missile shield is designed to guard against future threats from rogue states such as Iran.

Relations between Russia and the west have reached their lowest since the collapse of the Soviet Union, with tit-for-tat expulsions of Russian and British diplomats last week triggered by the continuing dispute over last year’s poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko.

Foreign-based analysts said defence and security budgets had already been raised during Mr Putin’s presidency and plans were in place for further increases.

However, they said that by publicly linking these increases to perceived threats from the west, Mr Putin was raising political tensions at home and abroad.

Oksana Antonenko, a senior fellow at the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, said: “Some people will think he is acting to boost his domestic popularity before [the presidential election of] 2008. Other people will say he is speaking like this to boost Russia’s power in the world through rhetoric. It suits him to focus attention on these issues.”