Putin: We’ll Overwhelm U.S. Missile Shield

It’s been an excellent year in eeevil for Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Late last year, Russia revised its constitution to extend the presidential term to six years, paving the way for his return to the presidency in 2012. In the spring, he took another shirtless vacation with his crew. And in a recent marathon four-hour phone-in with handpicked citizens, Putin gave his strongest hint yet that he plans to be in charge until, oh, about 2024.

Now Putin seems to be floating a few ideas about restoring the “balance of power” in the world. On a visit today to Vladivostok, Russia’s maximum leader premier said Moscow “must continue developing offensive systems” that could fool or overwhelm U.S. missile defenses. Such upgrades, he said, would help “preserve a strategic balance” with the United States.

Putin’s comments come as the United States and Russia try to hammer out a new arms-control accord. According to Putin, the main obstacle to a new agreement is the U.S. focus on building anti-missile defenses. “What is the problem?” he told reporters. “The problem is that our American partners are building an anti-missile shield and we are not building one.”

By pursuing missile defense, Putin added, “our [U.S.] partners could feel themselves fully secure and will do whatever they want, which upsets the balance.”

via Putin: We’ll Overwhelm U.S. Missile Shield. (But Thanks for the Concessions, Barack!) | Danger Room | Wired.com.

Putin May Return To Power

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev could resign from his post in 2009 to pave the way for Vladimir Putin to return to the Kremlin, Vedomosti newspaper reported on Thursday, citing an unidentified source close to the Kremlin.

Medvedev Wednesday proposed increasing the presidential term to six years from four years, a step the newspaper said was part of a plan drawn up by Vladislav Surkov, who serves as Medvedev’s first deputy chief of staff.

Under the plan, Medvedev could implement changes to the constitution and unpopular social reforms “so that Putin could return to the Kremlin for a longer period,” the newspaper said.

“Under this scenario Medvedev could resign early citing changes to the constitution and then presidential elections could take place in 2009,” the newspaper said, citing the unidentified source close to the Kremlinl.

The paper said Putin, who is currently prime minister, could then rule for two six year terms, so from 2009 to 2021. The paper cited Putin’s spokesman as saying he saw no reason for Putin to return to power in 2009.

Investors, already jittery over the impact of the financial crisis on Russia’s economic boom, are trying to work out who is really in charge of Russia, the biggest question for those seeking to ascertain political risk.

They are seeking any details on how the current set up — with Medvedev as president and Putin as prime minister — could change. During Medvedev’s speech Wednesday the Russian stock market erased most of the gains it made earlier in the day.

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Putin Responds, “You’ll See” A Response To NATO’s Naval Buildup in Black Sea

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that Russia will respond calmly to an increase in NATO ships in the Black Sea in the aftermath of the short war with Georgia, but promised that “there will be an answer.”

Meanwhile, President Dmitry Medvedev sternly warned the West that it would lose more than Moscow would if it tried to punish Russia with sanctions over the war with Georgia.

Russia has repeatedly complained that NATO has too many warships in the Black Sea. Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said Tuesday that currently there are two U.S., one Polish, one Spanish and one German ship there.

“We don’t understand what American ships are doing on the Georgian shores, but this is a question of taste, it’s a decision by our American colleagues,” Putin reportedly said. “The second question is why the humanitarian aid is being delivered on naval vessels armed with the newest rocket systems.”

Russia’s reaction to NATO ships “will be calm, without any sort of hysteria. But of course, there will be an answer,” Interfax quoted Putin as saying during a visit to Uzbekistan.

Asked by exactly what measures Russia would take in response to NATO ships in the Black Sea, Putin was quoted as answering, “You’ll see.”

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