Putin accuses West of dragging Russia into an arms race

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Russian President Vladimir Putin in his annual State of the Nation address on Thursday accused the West of dragging his country into an arms race.

“We understand that the West is trying to drag us into an arms race. Thus, to wear us down, to repeat the trick that they succeeded in the 1980s with the Soviet Union,” Putin told lawmakers, officials and journalists at the Federal Assembly.

According to him, the country’s strategic nuclear forces are in a “state of full readiness.”

He also announced plans to strengthen armed forces in the country's west after Sweden and Finland's accessions to the NATO military alliance.

Putin said Russia is ready for dialogue with the US on issues of strategic stability, but argued that Washington's attempts to defeat Moscow while offering dialogue were “hypocritical.”