"Diktat and Imperialism"

Vladimir Putin is a loathsome Chekist, but he does have a firmer grasp than some about the realities of the international system.

Russian President Vladimir V. Putin suggested Thursday that Washington was pursuing an imperialist policy that had triggered a new arms race.

In a clear reference to the United States, Putin harshly criticized "diktat and imperialism" in global affairs and said Russia would continue to strengthen its military potential to maintain a strategic balance.

"It wasn't us who initiated a new round of arms race," Putin said when asked at a news conference about Russian missile tests Tuesday.

He said the tests were a response to U.S. plans to install missile defenses in Europe.

In Washington, White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe indicated that Moscow's tests underscored the U.S. contention that the missile defense system was not aimed at Russia.

"As the Russians are well aware, our missile defense assets in Europe could be easily overwhelmed by existing Russian missile capabilities," he said.

Putin assailed the United States and other members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization for failing to ratify an amended version of the 1990 Conventional Armed Forces in Europe, or CFE, treaty, which limits deployment of heavy non-nuclear weapons in the region.

"We have signed and ratified the CFE and are fully implementing it. We have pulled out all our heavy weapons from the European part of Russia to [locations] behind the Ural Mountains and cut our military by 300,000 men," Putin said.

"And what about our partners? They are filling Eastern Europe with new weapons. A new base in Bulgaria, another one in Romania, a [missile defense] site in Poland and a radar in the Czech Republic," he said. "What we are supposed to do? We can't just sit back and look at that."

Putin and other Russian officials repeatedly have rejected U.S. assurances that the planned missile defense sites are meant to counter potential threats from nations such as Iran, not Russia.

He reaffirmed his warning that Russia would opt out of the CFE treaty altogether if NATO nations failed to ratify its amended version.

In remarks directed at Washington, Putin blasted those "who want to dictate their will to all others regardless of international norms and law."

"It's dangerous and harmful," he added. "Norms of the international law were replaced with political expediency. We view it as diktat and imperialism."