Russia claims USA is reviving Cold War, announces new nuclear weapons

Tension escalates again between Russia and the NATO allies. Putin announced Russia will produce this year more than 40 new high-tech nuclear weapons. Days before, Pentagon plans to protect Baltic and Eastern European countries were made public.

Over the weekend, several media informed that the USA where weighing the deployment of battle tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and other heavy weapons for as many as 5,000 American troops in several Baltic and Eastern European countries.

The deployment of advance equipment would be the first such move since the Cold War ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Russia’s annexation  of Crimea and its continued military interference in eastern Ukraine — although it denies any direct involvement — have prompted fears in other countries bordering Russia about further military action or meddling.

RUSSIA: WE ARE GOING BACK TO COLD WAR

On Monday, Russian Foreign Minister General Yuri Yakubov said: “If heavy US military equipment, including tanks, artillery batteries and other equipment really does turn up in countries in eastern Europe and the Baltics, that will be the most aggressive step by the Pentagon and Nato since the Cold War.”

“We hope that reason will prevail and the situation in Europe will be prevented from sliding into a new military confrontation which may have dangerous consequences”, he added.

But the country, Yabukov added, was ready to “organise retaliatory steps to strengthen our Western frontiers.”

PUTIN ANNOUNCES NEW NUCLEAR WEAPONS PRODUCTION

On Tuesday, Russia’s president Vladimir Putin finally explained his next step: updating its nuclear arsenal with more than 40 intercontinental ballistic missiles in 2015.

Putin added that these new weapons would be able to overcome even the most technically advanced anti-missile defence systems.

A NEW ARMS RACE STARTING?

BBC analyst Jonathan Marcus, commented on the situation: “Putin has placed a renewed emphasis upon his country's nuclear arsenal.”

“This is in part a reflection of Russia's continuing conventional military weakness. Moscow is in the midst of a significant modernisation of its strategic nuclear weapons with new ballistic missiles being deployed, more modern bombers, and new submarines being launched.”

But “what most alarms the West is the renewed emphasis in Russian rhetoric on nuclear rather than conventional forces”, concludes Marcus.