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| Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers his annual address to the nation on February 20, 2019, in Moscow. Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images |
MOSCOW — President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia — facing an economically beleaguered, less-supportive public — used his annual state-of-the-nation speech on Wednesday to promise a raft of social spending, while also doubling down on threats against the United States.
Mr. Putin said Washington was fueling a new arms race by withdrawing from a landmark nuclear weapons treaty and possibly deploying new missiles in Europe. Without mentioning any country in particular, he warned that if American missiles were deployed on the continent, within a few minutes’ flight of his country, Russia would aim its weapons at those missiles and at targets in the United States.
“Russia will be forced to create and deploy new types of weapons that could be used not only against the territories where a direct threat to us comes from, but also against the territories where decision-making centers directing the use of missile systems threatening us are located,” he said. “The capability of such weapons, including the time to reach those centers, will be equivalent to the threats against Russia.”
Russian missiles, including nuclear weapons, targeting the United States is not new. Nor is saber rattling by Mr. Putin, who devoted much of his speech last year to what he claimed were highly advanced new weapons.
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