Russia to deploy weapons against NATO shield — Putin

Russia will counter NATO’s US-led missile defense program by deploying new strike weapons capable of piercing the shield, President Vladimir Putin says.

Putin tells defense officials that by developing defenses against ballistic missiles, Washington aims to “neutralize” Russia’s strategic nuclear deterrent and gain a “decisive military superiority.”

He said that Moscow will respond by developing “strike systems capable of penetrating any missile defenses.”

“Over the past three years, companies of the military-industrial complex have created and successfully tested a number of prospective weapons systems that are capable of performing combat missions in a layered missile defense system. Such systems have already begun to enter the military this year. And now we are talking about development of new types of weapons,” Putin said.

His statement comes amid a severe strain in Russia’s relations with the US and its NATO allies, which have plunged to the lowest point since the Cold War over the crisis in Ukraine.

— AP