Russians are coming again, Conservatives warn
Pastor Dale Morgan
Russians are coming again, UK Conservatives warn*
By Christopher Hope, Whitehall Editor
Last Updated: 1:16am GMT 19/02/2007
UK - The Russians are using billions of dollars of oil profits to rearm,
just as British defence chiefs prepare for cuts in the summer's
Government spending review, the Conservatives have warned.
Liam Fox, the party's defence spokesman, sounded the alarm about "the
growing and accelerating rearmament in Russia" in a House of Commons debate.
He claimed that President Vladimir Putin's government is planning to
spend $183 billion (£94 billion) over the next nine years — or $1.7
billion (£900 million) a month — on its armament programme.
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His warning of a Russian resurgence comes amid increasing concerns about
the 'overstretch' of Britain's Armed Forces and cutbacks in the defence
budget in this summer's Comprehensive Spending Review. The weapons
shopping spree between 2007 and 2015 could push Russia's spending
towards Cold War levels.
Dr Fox, who visited Eastern Europe earlier this year, said that weapons
on order include:
• 69 Topol-M missiles with between 70 and 200 nuclear warheads;
• five nuclear ballistic missile submarines;
• 60 Bulava intercontinental ballistic missiles, with 400 to 600 warheads;
• 1,400 tanks;
• 4,100 infantry fighting vehicles;
• 3,000 armoured personnel carriers;
• 1,000 combat aircraft and helicopters;
• 60 theatre quasi-ballistic missile systems.
He warned that Russia had been covertly rearming while "the eyes of the
West have been elsewhere".
Dr Fox added that while the UK is planning to invest in the next
generation of the Trident nuclear deterrent "the Russians are already
investing heavily in more warheads".
Russia has been careful to manage its expenditure using its oil and gas
reserves. The country's central bank now has gold reserves of almost $65
billion, and currency reserves of $259 billion.
Dr Fox said: "Every $1 rise in the price of a barrel of oil provides
another $1 billion for the Russian exchequer."
He continued: "It goes hand in hand with its increasing willingness to
use natural resources, and fossil fuels in particular, to achieve
political ends."
Signs of this growing aggression have been seen in Russia's energy rows
with the Baltic states and with Ukraine, Georgia, and Belarus.
Despite Dr Fox's warning, a Government spokesman said: "Russia is a key
partner across issues including Iran, the Middle East peace process and
the fight against terrorism. We are in close touch with Russia
bilaterally and through international organisations including the G8."
Earlier this week relations between Russia and the West took a downturn
after Moscow expressed outrage at US plans to station interceptor
missiles in eastern Europe.
Gen Yuri Baluyevsky, the chief of staff, said that Russia was now
considering withdrawing from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty.
The treaty was viewed as a landmark in ending the Cold War, when it was
signed in 1988 by Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev.
"We shall see how our American partners act," said Gen Baluyevsky. "What
they are doing at the moment is totally inexplicable."
Mr Putin has rejected explanations that the missile defence shield,
which will be located in the Czech Republic and Poland, is a deterrent
against Iran and North Korea.