Arms Race Déjà Vu?

Relations between the U.S. and Russia may be strained by the Bush administration’s planned implementation of an anti-missile shield in Eastern Europe.  Russian President Vladimir Putin had strong words for the U.S. Tuesday as Kremlin officials proudly unveiled new missiles—a month before Putin and President Bush will meet in Kennebunkport, Maine.

AP via My Way News:

Russia has bristled at the plans, dismissing U.S. assertions that the system would be aimed at blocking possible attacks by Iran and saying it would destroy the strategic balance of forces in Europe.

“We consider it harmful and dangerous to turn Europe into a powder keg and to fill it with new kinds of weapons,” Putin said at a news conference with visiting Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates.

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AP Photo / Hans Punz

Russia’s Putin says U.S. plans for an anti-missile shield in Eastern Europe would turn the region into a “powder keg.”