WASHINGTON — The Pentagon on Thursday dismissed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s boasts about developing a new array of nuclear weapons, saying America’s missile defense is ready to protect the nation but is not directed at Russia.
Putin claims that Moscow has tested weapons that cannot be intercepted and would make NATO’s missile defense “useless.” That assertion does little to change the long-standing nuclear standoff between the U.S. and Russia, which is rooted in deterrence and the reality that neither country would launch such weapons because doing so would mean mutual destruction. But it amps up the rhetoric and fuels worries about a new arms race.
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