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Russia to React to NMD in Any Smart Way: Duma Deputy
Russia's response to the creation of a national missile defense (NMD) system by the US should be a non-standard one, Russian State Duma deputy Andrei Kokoshin said in Moscow Saturday.
"It is in many respects a virtual race. But the winner in the race is the one who is more clever, not the one who makes more iron," so Russia will react against NMD in any smart way, Kokoshin, also former Russian Security Council chief, told reporters.
As one of the authors of the idea of "the asymmetric response" to (former US President Ronald) Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative: the Star Force Plan, he said it would take the US years to deploy the NMD system.
"Remember the 1980s, they (Americans) spent 60-70 billion dollars. Where is the SDI? where is the program? where is the space shield?" Kokoshin asked.
"While the joint negotiation process is going on, it is necessary to start the formula that is emerging now: the ceilings of 1,500 warheads, control verification rules written in the START- II (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty-II), and the freedom of forming the group of strategic nuclear forces," he stressed.
"We need to try to prevent, to be very pragmatic," Kokoshin said.
Russia's greatness and national security, including in the military sphere, depend first of all on "whether we will be able to get into the world markets with science-intensive technologies, whether we will be able to overcome restriction barriers, to get capitals for investment in our economy," he said.
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