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Russia to cut arms if US drops missile defense
2008-12-19
MOSCOW - A senior Russian general said Friday the military will cut some weapons programs if the United States drops its missile defense plans, a news agency reported. The Interfax news agency quoted Col.-Gen. Nikolai Solovtsov as saying that the Russian armed forces wouldn't need some prospective strategic weapons if the new U.S. administration changes its mind about deploying missile defense sites in Europe. "Several expensive programs will simply become unnecessary for us," said Solovtsov, the chief of Russia's Strategic Missile Forces. Solovtsov didn't elaborate, but he has said earlier that Russia plans to modernize its intercontinental ballistic missiles to protect them from space-based components of the U.S. missile defense system. Other Russian officials have previously boasted about prospective new warheads capable of making sharp maneuvers to dodge missile defense systems. Solovtsov's statement was the latest expression of the Kremlin's hope that President-elect Barack Obama may reverse the Bush administration plan to build missile defense sites in Poland and the Czech Republic. Russia has fiercely opposed the plan and promised to deploy missiles next to Poland if the U.S. goes ahead. Russian leaders have dismissed the U.S. claims that the missile shield was aimed to counter a missile threat from Iran, saying it damages Russia's security.
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