MOSCOW. March 18 (Interfax-AVN) - Head of the Duma Defense Committee Andrei Nikolayev thinks the implementation of U.S. military doctrine will inevitably lead to an arms buildup.
Responding to a question from Interfax on Monday, he told reporters that Russia should "seek its own response to U.S. actions," primarily the withdrawal from the 1972 ABM treaty, which was a system of self-restraint in nuclear arms.
Nikolayev said the Americans want "to shield the territory of the United States with an anti-missile umbrella, and make it invulnerable in the event of radical cuts in nuclear arms." Russia should have its own response: "We should increase the threat in turn."
"If you build up the shield, we will build up the sword," he said.