Above: Vladimir Putin will not back down

After reports of missile testing, Russian President Vladimir Putin makes another move to empower Russia against possible war threats.

In his statements for the presidential state council in Moscow, he had his say about the “one-way” Western military demands and promised that they will respond to U.S. and NATO military expansion. Russia already closed its bases in Cuba and Vietnam and yet they see no action from the West towards the same cause.

“We have been put in a situation where we have to react,” Putin said, reacting towards U.S. plans to deploy a missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic. According to sources new bases will also be built in Romania and Bulgaria.

“They tried to convince us that all these activities aren’t against Russia, but our concerns have gone unanswered,” Putin said. “Unfortunately our partners use a diplomatic and informational cover to hide their real plans.”

United States has been making moves to install missile defense systems in the eastern parts of Europe, which U.S. officials say is designed to protect allies of NATO and other ally countries from the threat of a possible Iranian missile attack.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that the system is too limited to pose a threat to any country, so much so Russia.

But Putin said he sees a competition brewing wherein well-developed countries like the United States invest more on weapons development to produce better firepower than those produced in his homeland. Putin promised that balance would soon shift in this “new turn in the arms race.”

“We have been put in a situation where we have to react. We have been forced to make certain decisions. Russia will always respond to this new challenge,” Putin said.

“In the near future, we will develop new weapons that have the same characteristics, and in some cases better characteristics, as those being built by other countries,” he said.