Putin Orders Boost in Military, Spying
Pastor Dale Morgan
Jul 25, 3:16 PM EDT
*Putin Orders Boost in Military, Spying*
By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV
Associated Press Writer
MOSCOW (AP) -- President Vladimir Putin vowed Wednesday to strengthen
Russia's military capability and step up spying abroad in response to
U.S. plans to build missile defense sites and deploy troops in Eastern
Europe.
"The situation in the world and internal political interests require the
Foreign Intelligence Service to permanently increase its capabilities,
primarily in the field of information and analytical support for the
country's leadership," Putin said at a meeting with senior military and
security officers in remarks that were posted on the Kremlin's Web site.
The Foreign Intelligence Service is a successor agency to the KGB.
Putin did not identify specific nations as targets, but officials in the
United States and Britain have said recently that Moscow has intensified
its spying in those countries.
Putin said U.S. plans to station troops in Eastern Europe and
Washington's intention to base missile defense sites in Poland and the
Czech Republic pose security challenges for Russia. Washington says the
facilities are necessary to protect the U.S. and Europe from missiles
launched by Iran or other rogue states.
Putin has proposed that the U.S. use a Soviet-built radar base in
Azerbaijan for missile defense. U.S. officials have questioned whether
the facility is technically compatible with American systems.
On Wednesday, Putin said Washington was stonewalling. "Alternative ways
of protection from hypothetical missile threats which we proposed have
been left unanswered," he said.
"All-round strengthening of our military forces is one of our
indisputable priorities," Putin said, promising to continue equipping
the military with new weapons.
Putin also criticized the United States and other NATO members for
failing to ratify an amended version of the 1990 Conventional Forces in
Europe (CFE) treaty, which limits the deployment of tanks, aircraft and
other heavy non-nuclear weapons around the continent.
Earlier this month, Putin suspended Russia's participation in the treaty
and threatened to withdraw from it completely if NATO nations do not
ratify its amended version, which was signed in 1999, to reflect changes
since the 1991 Soviet collapse.
NATO members have refused to do that until Russia withdraws its troops
from the former Soviet republics of Moldova and Georgia.
Putin said the old version of the CFE treaty counted arsenals of former
Soviet satellites and republics which are now NATO members as part of
the Soviet bloc. In particular, it counted weapons in the ex-Soviet
Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania as part of what was the
Soviet Baltic Military District.
"Maybe I should appoint one of you as its commander?" Putin said wryly.
Russia's relations with the United States and other Western nations have
grown increasingly acrimonious amid Western concerns that Russia is
edging away from democracy and Kremlin suspicions about the West's
intentions.