Russia is not willing to get dragged into a new arms race but it must ensure its security, President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera published Thursday (July 4).
According to the interview posted on the Kremlin website, Putin
said the United States had a military budget of more than US$700 billion,
compared with Russia's roughly US$48 billion.
"That is why we had to
develop advanced weapons and equipment -- in response to the increasing
military expenditure and the clearly destructive actions of the United
States," said the president.
Putin said it was not Russia
but the United States that started the breakdown of the international security
system by unilaterally withdrawing in 2002 from the Anti-Ballistic Missile
Treaty, the cornerstone of the entire arms control architecture.
Russia approached the United
States more than once, suggesting that both sides sort out issues concerning
the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, but was refused, he said.
Washington does not seem
ready to discuss the extension of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty that
will expire in early 2021 or the possibility of elaborating a new full-scale
agreement, the Russian president said.
"Last October, we
offered the United States to adopt a joint statement on the inadmissibility of
a nuclear war and the recognition of its devastating consequences. There has
been no response," Putin said.
The US administration has
recently begun to reflect on the possibility of restarting dialogue with Russia
on a broad strategic agenda, and reaching concrete agreements in the field of
arms control would help improve international stability, he said.
"Russia has the
political will to do this. Now it is for the United States to make a
decision," Putin said, adding that he reiterated this position at a recent
meeting with US President Donald Trump in Osaka, Japan.
Many countries are grappling with rapidly aging population. As population aging becomes an irreversible global trend with significant impacts on economic and social sectors, nations face the urgent task of creating flexible policies to adapt to and make the most of this trend to build prosperous and sustainable societies.
With a series of stimulus measures, the world tourism industry is on the way to recovery as before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out. Facing the opportunity to take off, the "smokeless industry” is expected to strongly contribute to global economic growth while promoting potential and cohesion, contributing to peace and sustainable development.
The danger from the COVID-19 pandemic is still latent, threatening people’s health and lives in the context that the immunity provided from the COVID-19 vaccine has decreased. Many other dangerous diseases are also likely to break out when the global vaccination rate slows down, due to inequality in access to health services, vaccine hesitancy, and consequences of economic recession.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is witnessing a rise in the sales of electric vehicles (EVs) in Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia, according to Maybank Investment Bank Research (Maybank IB Research).
The respect paying ceremony for Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong continued on the morning of July 26 at the National Funeral Hall in Hanoi, with high-level delegations from foreign countries and international organisations paying their last respects and expressing deep condolences.
A wave of condolences have poured in from world leaders, international organisations, rulling parties, Communist parties and partner parties following the death of Vietnamese Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.