Military expenditure (% of GDP) Coming in From the Cold War. Missile Defense - As Friends or Foes? Russia to build up nuclear forces if New START not ratified - Putin. Russia will be forced to build up its nuclear forces if the United States does not ratify the New Strategic Arms Ratification Treaty, Putin told CNN in an interview to air on Wednesday. "That's not our choice. We don't want that to happen. But this is not a threat on our part," Putin told CNN's Larry King. "We've been simply saying that this is what all of us expects to happen if we don't agree on a joint effort there. " Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and U.S.
President Barack Obama signed the new treaty on April 8 in Prague to replace the START 1 agreement that expired in December 2009. Russia has said it will act symmetrically with the United States regarding treaty ratification, but the treaty has met strong Republican opposition in the U.S. The Republicans won a solid majority in the U.S. congressional elections in early November, meaning Obama has until January, when the new Congressmen take up their positions, to try to push the treaty through. "We'll see. Condoleezza Rice: New Start—Ratify, With Caveats.
Poland to Deploy U.S. Missiles Near Russia. Nato must retain nuclear capability, says Rasmussen. Nato chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen has said the alliance must retain a nuclear capability as long as rogue regimes or terrorist groups pose a threat. He called for a major review of Nato's strategy and funding to enable it to meet modern security threats. Mr Rasmussen made his comments ahead of a meeting of Nato foreign ministers in the Estonian capital, Tallinn.
Nuclear policy, as well as missile defence, and relations with Russia and Afghanistan will be on the agenda. At a news briefing in Tallinn, Nato's secretary general said that while he shared the grand vision of a world without nuclear weapons, the alliance needed a credible nuclear deterrent. "We must retain a nuclear capability as long as there are rogue regimes or terrorist groupings that may pose a nuclear threat to us. "And for this reason we also need a credible missile defence system providing coverage for all the allies," said Mr Rasmussen. He also renewed calls for Nato to rethink how it is funded.