(VOVworld) – Russia warned that Russia must take steps to ensure state security in respond to the build-up of the US’s Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) capabilities. Following the US’s withdrawal from the 1972 ABM Treaty, Russia explained that the US’s missile defense system could directly affect the strategic stability.

US missile defense system in Deveselu, Romania (Source : lockheedmartin.com)

According to Deputy Head of Russia’s General Staff Main Operations Department Lieutenant General Viktor Poznikhir, the missile system could lead to building up missile forces around the world and provoke another arms race.
He added that the presence of the global ABM system lowers the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons, because it gives the US the illusion of impunity for using strategic offensive weapons from under the protection of the ABM “umbrella”. Russia proposed a joint development of the ABM architecture for Europe, but that proposal was rejected.