RUSSIA:Russian president Vladimir Putin has thrown down an ultimatum that he will once again target some European countries with his country's nuclear weapons if they host a US missile shield, reversing the post-cold war relaxation in military readiness.
He threatened the move as a "retaliatory gesture" to the US, suggesting a new phase of brinkmanship that requires one side to back down before tensions ease.
Ahead of the G8 summit tomorrow, which was already set to feature a tense encounter between US president George Bush and Mr Putin, the harsh language signals the depth of anger in the Kremlin at Washington's proposed missile shield.
"If a part of the strategic nuclear potential of the United States appears in Europe and, in the opinion of our military specialists, will threaten us, then we will have to take appropriate steps in response. What kind of steps? We will have to have new targets in Europe," Mr Putin said, according to a transcript of a special briefing with journalists from the G8 countries. These weapons could include "ballistic or cruise missiles, or maybe a completely new system", he added.
Despite the efforts of the G8 host, German chancellor Angela Merkel, to focus on climate change and poverty reduction when the leaders meet in Heiligendamm for the summit, the missile controversy seems likely to dominate headlines.
In response to Mr Bush's plans to place a missile shield system in Poland and the Czech Republic there has been a consistent ratcheting up in the rhetoric of the Russian leadership.
Mr Putin's latest comments suggest that the rhetoric is not empty. He called again for the US to drop its shield plans. "If this doesn't happen, then we disclaim responsibility for our retaliatory steps, because it is not we who are the initiators of the new arms race, which is undoubtedly brewing in Europe," he said.
"The strategic balance in the world is being upset and in order to restore this balance without creating an anti-missile defence on our territory we will be creating a system of countering that anti-missile system, which is what we are doing now."
Mr Putin attacked the US for acting as a lone superpower which was "making the world a more dangerous place" during a defence summit in Cologne earlier this year.
Last week he predicted a new arms race developing, just as his country test-launched a new intercontinental ballistic missile, which it says can evade any missile shield and launch 10 independently-guided warheads.
Apart from the US, Mr Putin also challenged the depth of the recent efforts in Europe to show greater solidarity. He queried the extent of the solidarity when the Czechs and Poles agreed to host these missiles without first asking other countries how they felt about it.
In an attempt to defuse the row with Russia, the US has invited Mr Putin to a summit early next month, where he would be hosted at the New England summer home of George H Bush, the father of the incumbent president.
Despite the diplomatic row, Mr Putin points out that, despite overt tensions, economic investment and trade with both Europe and the US continues to surge, in contrast to the restricted economic links during the cold war.