The United States on Thursday accused Russia of violating Cold War-era arms control treaties after President Vladimir Putin announced that Kremlin has built a range of nuclear weapons that can hit almost any place in the world without being intercepted.
“President Putin has confirmed what the United States government has known all along, which Russia has denied,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said. “Russia has been developing destabilising weapons systems for over a decade, in direct violation of its treaty obligations.”
State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said that video clips showing nuclear warheads hitting Florida, which were aired during Putin’s speech, were “cheesy” and irresponsible, CNN reported. United States President Donald Trump owns a resort in Florida.
Putin said Russia had developed the “invincible” weapons in response to the United States’ decision in 2001 to pull out of an anti-ballistic missile treaty it signed with the former Soviet Union in 1972.
However, Sanders said that the US’ military was still far superior to that of Russia’s. “US defence capabilities are and will remain second to none, and now because of the new defence budget of $700 billion [Rs 45.64 lakh crore], our military will be far stronger than ever.”
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