QUOTE OF THE DAY
“No one listened to us. Listen to us now.”
President Vladimir Putin of Russia, announcing advances in his country’s nuclear program and saying the U.S. failed to take Russia’s nuclear might seriously
Russian journalists take notes Thursday under a big-screen visage of Russian President Vladimir Putin during his state of the nation address in Moscow. Putin, adopting Cold War-style overtones, declared that Russia now has nuclear weapons that can defy U.S. defenses and that U.S. efforts to contain Russia have failed. “No one listened to us,” he said. “Listen to us now.”
MOSCOW — Russia has developed nuclear weapons capable of overcoming any U.S. missile defenses and intends to bolster its arsenal with nuclear-powered cruise missiles capable of hitting any point in the world, President Vladimir Putin said Thursday in his annual state of the nation address.
He warned that Moscow would mobilize an immediate response to any nuclear attack on it or its allies — adopting Cold War-style overtones that appeared to ramp up Russia’s posturing against the West. The U.S. has not taken Russia’s nuclear might seriously or adequately negotiated arms control, he contended, adding that U.S. efforts to contain Russia have failed.
“No one listened to us,” he said. “Listen to us now.”
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said President Donald Trump understands the threats and that America is “moving forward to modernize our nuclear arsenal and ensure our capabilities are unmatched.”
The Russian leader’s speech, which began with a rundown of domestic projects, was capped by a harsh rendering of East-West tensions and boasts about purported major advances in Russia’s arsenal.
The new weapons, Putin said, include a nuclear-powered cruise missile that can strike anywhere, a nuclear-powered underwater drone that could be armed with a nuclear warhead, and a hypersonic missile.
Putin cast the plans as a response to U.S. development of missile-defense systems that he claimed were meant to challenge Russia’s nuclear arsenal.
Pentagon spokesman Dana White said U.S. officials were “not surprised” by Putin’s comments and rejected Putin’s suggestion that Russia needed to upgrade its firepower because of defensive buildups in the West.
“Our missile defense has never been about [Russia],” White said.
She gave no details about the extent of knowledge on Russian military development.
Putin’s speech came less than three weeks before a March 18 presidential election, which Putin is widely expected to win. The Kremlin is hoping for high voter turnout that would put a stamp of legitimacy on a new six-year term for him.
His descriptions of Russia’s new weapons were punctuated with videos, projected on a screen behind him, that were greeted by applause from the assembled lawmakers and top officials. In one animation, the nuclear-powered cruise missile was shown flying across the Atlantic, rounding the southern tip of South America, and heading up the Pacific toward the U.S. mainland.
“I hope everything that has been said today will sober any potential aggressor,” Putin said.
At the State Department, spokesman Heather Nauert noted the timing of Putin’s speech — weeks ahead of the election.
“We think he was playing to the audience,” she said, adding that Putin’s boasts were irresponsible. She said it was “unfortunate” to watch the Russian video animation Putin showed depicting “a nuclear attack on the United States.” She called the animation “cheesy.”
Although Putin said his announcement was intended to get America’s attention, he also said he was open to talks with the U.S.
“We aren’t threatening anyone, we aren’t going to attack anyone, we aren’t going to take anything from anyone,” he said.
Still, Putin said in his speech that the U.S. should revise its Russia policy and engage in a serious dialogue on global security.
“You will have to assess that new reality and become convinced that what I said today isn’t a bluff,” he said. “It’s not a bluff, trust me.”
Putin claimed that late last year Russia successfully tested a cruise missile that was propelled by a nuclear-powered engine. This engine gave the cruise missile an effective unlimited range, he said, distinguishing it from other cruise missiles that typically have a range of about 600 miles.
He said the missile would be able to fly close to the ground and follow an unpredictable flight path, rendering NATO’s U.S.-led missile defense “useless” and putting an end to what he described as years of Western efforts to sidetrack and weaken Russia.
Tests of the technology, he said, “will allow the development of a complete new type of weapon — a strategic complex of nuclear arms with rockets fitted with a nuclear-propulsion engine.”
A nuclear-powered cruise missile would represent a major technological breakthrough, said Alexander Golts, a Moscow-based independent analyst of the Russian military.
There was no independent confirmation of Russia’s development of the technology. Golts said weapons experts he spoke to after Putin’s speech “were all in shock, like me.”
“This is the start of a new Cold War,” he said. “This is an effort to scare the West.”
Another new weapon Putin announced Thursday is a missile that can travel at hypersonic speed, or at least more than five times the speed of sound. Russia and the U.S. have been working to develop such missiles.
The Russian military already has put one such type of missile on duty in the Southern Military District, he said. The missile, called Kinzhal, is carried by aircraft and is capable of flying at a speed 10 times the speed of sound. He added that it has a range of more than 1,250 miles and can carry a nuclear or a conventional warhead.
A video that accompanied the hypersonic-missile announcement featured a MiG31 fighter jet carrying a bulky missile under its fuselage and then launching it during a test flight. A computer animation showed the missile hitting a group of navy ships.
“This is the start of a new Cold War. This is an effort to scare the West.” — Alexander Golts, a Moscow-based independent analyst of the Russian military, who said weapons experts he spoke to “were all in shock, like me.”