Russia accuses US of "new arms race" over Central Europe bases
Each week relations between Russia and the west seem to take another dive. Let's recount some of the events of this past week. Russia tested a new intercontinental ballistic missile and said it was a response to US plans for anti-missile bases in Central Europe. The US said Russia was acting as if it were in another era - presumably the Cold War era. Russia accused the US of starting another arms race and President Putin repeated his warning that Russia could pull out of the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty. In fact Russia has called for an emergency meeting of the CFE to be held in Vienna in mid June. So are the treaties and the peace dividends of the post cold war era beginning to unravel less than 20 years after the fall of the iron curtain? And is Central Europe again a friction point for two big powers?
Our Russia expert is Gerhard Mangott from the Austrian Institute for International Relations. He told my colleague Steve Crilley why Russia is reacting so strongly..
