Putin vows to beef up Russian military might

• Russia’s military this year alone will receive more than 40 new intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of piercing any missile defences, President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday in a blunt reminder of the nation’s nuclear might amid tensions with the West over Ukraine.

He was speaking at the opening of an arms show in Alabino just west of Moscow, a huge display intended to showcase the country’s resurgent military might.

Ru s s i a -We s t relations have plunged to their lowest point since Cold War times over Moscow’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and support for pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine. The U.S. and EU have imposed sanctions, and Washington and NATO are pondering their response. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have asked NATO to deploy ground troops permanently to their nations as a deterrent. Polish Defence Minister Tomasz Siemoniak said Sunday he and U.S. Defence Secretary Ashton Carter have discussed placing heavy U.S. army equipment in Poland.

Moscow bristled at the plans, warning Washington the deployment of new U.S. weapons near Russian borders would foment dangerous instability in Europe.

Speaking at the arms show, Putin vowed to continue a big arms modernization program despite Russia’s economic downturn. He pointed to the Armata tanks, unveiled during a Red Square military parade last month, saying they “have no analogs in the world.”

The military will start testing its new long-range early warning radar intended to monitor the western direction and later will deploy another one in the east.

“Over 40 new intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of penetrating any, even the most technologically advanced missile defence systems, will join the nuclear forces in the current year,” he said.

Modernizing Russia’s nuclear forces is a top priority for the military that needs to gradually decommission its Soviet-built ICBMs.