Putin warns of new arms race

Excerpt:

Russian president Vladimir Putin has warned the West it had started a new arms race.

He criticised the expansion of Nato and said Moscow would respond by modernising its military and weapons.

"We are being forced to take retaliatory steps," he said. "Russia has and always will have a response to these new challenges."

He added: "It is not our fault because we did not start it."

In a farewell address as he prepared to step aside as president, with less than a month remaining before the election for his successor, he reminded dozens of top government officials, cultural figures, religious leaders and military officers of his own achievements and his wide popularity among Russians.

It was also a signal that "Putinism", a doctrine of assertive economic and military policies and unwavering centralised power, should be expected to continue under the man he has prepared to succeed him - First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.

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