NATO rejects Putin’s ‘unacceptable’ threats to target allies

BRUSSELS — NATO on Friday said Russian President Vladimir Putin’s threats to target its members are unacceptable and that the military alliance will continue using its armed forces to deter aggression.

NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said Friday that “Russian statements threatening to target allies are unacceptable and counterproductive.”

Putin said Thursday that Moscow has tested an array of new strategic nuclear weapons that can’t be intercepted, telling the West: “You have failed to contain Russia.”

Lungescu said NATO’s missile defense system is built to respond to attacks from outside Europe and North America and not directed against Russia.

Noting Russia’s “aggressive actions” in Ukraine and military buildup around Europe, she said: “NATO is pursuing a twin-track approach to Russia — strong deterrence and defense, combined with meaningful dialogue.”

With ties between Russia and the West at post-Cold War lows over the Syria and Ukraine conflicts, Putin stoked fears of a new arms race with the announcement on Thursday of high-tech weaponry that can travel at many times the speed of sound.

Putin’s presentation during a state of the nation speech featured video montages of missiles crossing mountains and oceans, heading over the Atlantic, though the Kremlin later insisted the maps used did not represent any actual countries.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and US President Donald Trump shared concern in a phone conversation over Putin’s claims, Berlin said Friday, and analysts have warned Putin was effectively challenging Washington to a new arms race.

NATO is a defensive alliance, which stands ready to defend all members against any threat,” Lungescu said.

“We do not want a new Cold War or a new arms race. All Allies support arms control agreements which build trust and confidence, for everyone’s benefit.”

Putin said in an interview late Thursday that Moscow was not interested in a “new Cold War.

“My point of view is that the individuals that have said that a new Cold War has started are not analysts,” Putin told NBC’s Megyn Kelly in Moscow. “They do propaganda.”

However, the Russian president did say that his country has been in an arms race with the US since 2002, when US president George W. Bush withdrew from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.

“If we are to speak of an arms race, then an arms race started precisely at that point,” Putin said.

Kelly challenged the Russian president over his weapons claims, asking whether Russia had actually successfully tested the new nuclear-powered cruise missile he had boasted of earlier in the day.

“Every single weapons system that I have discussed today easily surpasses and avoids a missile defense system,” Putin said. But “some of them still have to be fine-tuned and worked on. Others are already available to the troops and battle-ready.”

US experts told NBC that the new weapons were not a surprise to the American defense establishment, but they questioned whether the arms were actually operational. Instead, they suggested that Putin’s rhetoric was intended for internal consumption in the lead-up to an election he is expected to win comfortably.

Dana White, the spokeswoman for the Pentagon, said, “The American people should rest assured that we are fully prepared.”