May 11, 2006 :: AP :: News
Sergei Sobyanin, chief of staff to Russian President Vladimir Putin, expressed his concern today over reports that U.S. will deploy conventional warheads on intercontinental ballistic missiles. According to Sobyanin, the U.S. is making an “irresponsible decision,” that could provoke an inappropriate response from another nuclear power that could launch a full-scale counterattack using strategic nuclear forces:
It is not the missiles themselves that worry us, but the consequences. You can imagine a missile is launched, especially from a submarine … and no one knows what kind of warhead is on that missile. A nuclear power could respond inadequately to such a missile launch … The issue somehow went away after the Soviet Union ceased to exist, now it seems [the U.S.] thinks such a theme is not necessary, there are no problems. But the problem exists and it’s necessary to conduct a dialogue on it.
Sobyanin was referring to the Pentagon’s Quadrennial Defense Review, released in February, which announced that the U.S. would convert some submarine-launched Trident missiles to carry conventional instead of nuclear warheads in order to enable the U.S. to respond adequately to a wider range of global threats. His comments follow President Putin’s statement yesterday that “it is premature to speak of the end of the arms race.” (Article)
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