Russian MoD: US fuelling new arms race

The US anti-missile system is designed to provide Washington with a "prompt global strike" capability without fear of retaliation. This in turn pushes other countries into building up and upgrading their own weaponry, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

"The US missile defense serves as a stimulus for the enhancement of missile capabilities in the world, thus effectively provoking a new arms race," said the ministry's spokesman, Colonel Aleksandr Emelyanov. The colonel was speaking during a joint Russian-Chinese military briefing, held on the sidelines of a UN General Assembly committee meeting on monitoring international security issues and disarmament.

The missile defense system is in fact a crucial part of Washington's planned "prompt global strike" contingency, which could target any US adversary in the world, potentially including Russia or China,...