Putin brags of Russia’s nuclear capability

MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin has announced an array of new nuclear weapons in one of his most bellicose speeches in years, saying they could hit almost any point in the world and evade a USbuilt missile shield.

Putin was speaking before an election on March 18 that polls indicate he should win easily. He said a nuclear attack on any of Moscow’s allies would be regarded as an attack on Russia itself and draw an immediate response.

It was unclear if he had a particular Russian ally, such as Syria, in mind, but his comments looked like a warning to Washington not to use tactical battlefield nuclear weapons.

His remarks were greeted with scepticism in Washington, where officials cast doubt on whether Russia has added any new capabilities to its nuclear arsenal beyond those already known to the US military and intelligence agencies.

Later, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said elements of Nato’s antimissile system deployed in Poland, Romania and Alaska were like an ‘‘umbrella with holes in it’’, Russian news agencies reported.

‘‘It turns out that the antimissile umbrella has holes in it,’’ Interfax cited Shoigu as saying.

Shoigu was also cited as saying that Nato countries were trying to drag Russia into a new arms race, but that the new nuclear weapons would help to avoid this scenario. — Reuters