- On the eve of his visit to Germany for the G-8 Summit,
Russian President Vladimir Putin granted an exclusive interview to a group
of leading press from the 7 non-Russian summit nations, including the London
Times, the Corriere della Sera (Italy) and Germany'sSpiegel weekly.
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- In regard to the U.S. deployment of missile defense systems
on the Russian border, Putin said (excerpts taken from the Spiegel interview):
"Once the new missile system is established, it will function in an
automatic mode, linked to the entire nuclear potential of the USA. For
the first time in history, components of the American nuclear system will
be established on the European continent that changes the whole configuration
of international security. We are being told that this is to protect against
Iranian missiles.
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- But these do not exist: Iran does not have missiles with
a range of 5,000 to 8,000 kilometers. A wall of protection is being built
here against something that does not exist. There is no reason for such
a missile defense system in Europe. We, however, are forced to respond
to that."
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- Putin said he still hopes that the USA will find a way
back to a dialogue based on reason, but "if that fails, we have to
react the missile defense system only creates the illusion of protection
but in theory, the likelihood of unleashing a nuclear conflict will
even increase.
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- The global strategic balance is disrupted. To restore
it, we have to create a system to outflank these American waepons."
Putin added his suspicion that the missile issue is pushed by the USA with
the intent to provoke a Russian counterreaction and "prevent further
cooperation between Russia and Europe." The Times reports that Putin
said that "we will need to establish such systems which would be able
to penetrate the (US) missile defense systems. What kind of means will
be used to hit the targets that our military believe are potential threats
- ballistic missiles, or cruise missiles, or some kind of new weapons system?"
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- LaRouche PAC
- 6-5-7
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