Russian President Vladimir Putin sternly warned the United States against deploying new missiles in Europe, saying Wednesday that Russia will retaliate by fielding new weapons that will take just as little time to reach their targets. While the Russian leader didn't say what specific new weapons Moscow could deploy, his statement further raised the ante in tense relations with Washington. Speaking in his state-of-the-nation address, Putin charged the U.S. has abandoned a key arms control pact to free up its hands to build new missiles and tried to shift the blame for the move to Russia. "Our American partners should have honestly said it instead of making unfounded accusations against Russia to justify their withdrawal from the treaty," Putin said. The U.S. has accused Russia of breaching the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty by deploying a cruise missile that violates its limits — the accusations Moscow has rejected. The INF treaty banned production, testing and deployment of land-based cruise and ballistic missiles with a range of 500 to 5,500 kilometres. The intermediate-range weapons were seen as particularly destabilizing as they take shorter time to reach their targets compared to the intercontinental ballistic missiles. That would leave practically no time for decision-makers, raising the likelihood of a global nuclear conflict over a false launch warning. Hails progress on a number of weapons, systems Putin reaffirmed that Russia won't be the first to deploy new intermediate-range missiles, but warned of a quick retaliation if the U.S. puts such weapons in Europe. "They will only take 10 to 12 minutes to reach Moscow," he said. "It's a very serious threat to us, and we will have to respond." He didn't directly mention the U.S., but noted the Russian response will be "asymmetrical" and involve new weapons that would reach the enemy's decision-making centres just as quickly. "Russia will be forced to create and deploy new types of weapons that could be used not only against the territories where a direct threat to us comes from, but also against the territories where decision-making centres directing the use of missile systems threatening us are located," he said. "The capability of such weapons, including the time to reach those centres, will be equivalent to the threats against Russia." The president didn't specify which of the prospective Russian weapons would do the job, but he reported quick progress on an array of new weapons presented a year ago. The Russian leader said the first batch of Avangard hypersonic glide vehicles will be deployed this year. He said tests of the new Sarmat heavy intercontinental ballistic missile, the Burevestnik nuclear-powered cruise missile and the Poseidon nuclear-powered underwater drone have been progressing successfully. Putin said the first submarine equipped to carry the Poseidon will be commissioned later this year. He also announced the coming deployment of the new Zircon hypersonic missile for the Russian navy, saying it's capable of flying at nine times the speed of sound and will have a range of 1,000 kilometres. He said the Zircon program will not be too costly as the missile has been designed to equip Russia's existing surface ships and submarines. Putin urged U.S. officials to take into account the "range and speed of our prospective weapons" before making decisions that will threaten Russia. While issuing a tough warning to the U.S., Putin also claimed Russia still wants friendly relations with Washington and remains open for arms-control talks. "We don't want confrontation, particularly with such a global power as the U.S.," he said. At the same time, he criticized the "destructive" U.S. policy of targeting Russia with sanctions. Russia's relations with the U.S. have sunk to post-Cold War lows over Russia's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, its support for the Syrian government in the war in Syria and the allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The menacing talk about new weapons and the tough warnings aimed at the U.S. followed a speech that mostly focused on domestic issues. Putin promised Russians he would raise welfare payments, improve education and the struggling health-care system, and remove toxic dump sites from cities. Similar goals have been set before, but the progress has been slow as Russia has been buffeted by economic shocks caused by a drop in oil prices and Western sanctions.<doc-sep>Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the Trump administration Wednesday against basing intermediate-range missiles in Europe, saying that Moscow would respond by deploying new weapons of its own that could directly target Washington. Although the threat did not mark a change in Russian doctrine, it raised the ante in what could be a new arms race between the two countries. Russia and the United States already have stockpiles of hundreds of nuclear-armed missiles capable of reaching each other’s territory, a vestige of Cold War hostilities. But Putin’s annual state of the nation address to both houses of parliament and his government ministries was a warning that a nuclear-armed standoff between the two countries appears in danger of returning. It came less than a month after President Trump said the United States was withdrawing from the 1987 Intermediate Nuclear Force Treaty, a landmark Cold War agreement that lessened tensions between Moscow and Washington but which the U.S now says Moscow is violating. Advertisement Russia is not looking for confrontation and remains open to arms control talks with Washington, but Moscow will respond to any threats to its security, Putin said. In theory, the U.S. and its allies will be free to base missiles in Europe once the U.S. completes its pullout from the INF treaty in April. Putin’s bellicose speech appeared to be a warning against any move by the Trump administration to return U.S. medium-range missiles to Europe. “This is a very serious danger to us,” Putin said, according to the Tass news agency. “In this case, we will be forced, and I want to stress this, we will be forced to envisage tit-for-tat and asymmetric measures.” He added that Russia would target not just the launch site of any Europe-based missiles, but the command center from which they are launched — presumably referring to the United States itself. “They can count, can’t they?” the Kremlin leader said of U.S. political leaders. “Then let them count the speed and the range of the weapons systems we are developing.” In a Russian Defense Ministry image, Russia’s Poseidon nuclear-powered underwater drone is seen being test-launched. (Russian Defense Ministry, via Associated Press) Putin’s comments are far from the first to warn of the consequences of a further U.S. deployment in Europe. Moscow has long viewed NATO’s presence in Eastern Europe in particular as U.S.-led aggression. “Russia already targets the U.S. with nuclear weapons, and the U.S. targets Russia. This is nothing new,” said Tom Collina, policy director of the Ploughshares Fund, a San Francisco-based anti-proliferation organization. “To me, what Putin is trying to say is that nuclear war will not stay ‘over there.’ If Trump puts new nukes in Europe and nuclear war breaks out, the United States will be a target.” Advertisement The landmark 1987 nuclear treaty saw the United States and the Soviet Union agree to destroy their existing arsenals of ground-launched cruise and ballistic missiles with ranges of 310 miles to 3,100 miles, and forswear the testing, production or deployment of such missiles. In announcing its withdrawal from the pact, the Trump administration cited Russian deployment of a cruise missile that the U.S. says has a range that violates the treaty. In a mirrored response to the U.S. announcement, Russia said it too would leave the treaty and begin developing weapons previously banned under the pact. “The United States demonstratively neglected the provisions of the INF treaty when deploying launchers in Romania and Poland,” Putin said, referring to NATO missile defense systems in Romania and a U.S. proposal to place them in Poland. The U.S. disputes that those launchers violate the conditions of the treaty. “We don’t want confrontation, particularly with such a global power as the U.S.,” Putin said. “But Russia will always respond.” Advertisement The possible collapse of the missile treaty sparked fears of a new arms race at a time when relations between Moscow and Washington are at a new low. The U.S. intelligence community has concluded that the Kremlin interfered in the 2016 presidential election, an assertion Putin has said is based on the Russophobic mentality of Washington’s political elite. A U.S. State Department spokesman, who declined to be identified by name in keeping with administration rules, said Russia has long been in violation of the agreement. “The United States made numerous good-faith efforts to get Russia to return to compliance, and Russia chose to continue its covert missile program in violation of the treaty,” he said. “President Putin’s remarks are a continuation of Russia’s propaganda effort to avoid responsibility for Russia’s actions in violation of the INF treaty.” The spokesman added that in contrast to Russia’s efforts to create new weapons systems, including nonstrategic nuclear weapons, the United States is in full compliance with the treaty. Advertisement U.S. officials say they have not made a decision about whether they will seek to base new weapons in Europe after exiting the treaty. The administration last year announced plans to develop a low-yield warhead for the Trident D-5 submarine-launched ballistic missile and a nuclear-armed, sea-launched cruise missile, calling those options “important for the preservation of credible deterrence against regional aggression.” The Pentagon also could deploy a new ground-launched cruise missile or larger intermediate-range missiles. Some North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies are opposed to allowing new U.S. missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads on their territory, although Poland or other countries close to Russia may be willing to host U.S. missiles. Daryl Kimball, the executive director of the Arms Control Assn., a Washington policy organization, said Putin’s speech was a continuation in a downward spiral in U.S.-Russia arms control that has intensified with the appointment of arms-control skeptic John Bolton as Trump’s national security advisor last year. Advertisement “It’s wholly inappropriate for any leader to be threatening nuclear genocide against another country,” Kimball said of Putin’s remarks. “But what we’re looking at here more broadly is the end result of the U.S. and Russia, and the Trump administration in particular, not engaging in a productive dialogue.”<doc-sep>Welcome to Wednesday, Short Listers. It's Ashley, here to walk you through today’s news. But first, a golden lobster: A lucky lobster has been saved from the pot thanks to its rare, 1-in-30 million golden color. Its nickname? Goldilobs. Russia’s doing Russia things again. With missiles. Vladimir Putin got my attention this morning: The Russian president warned Wednesday that Moscow will target the U.S. with new missiles if the Trump administration scraps an arms control agreement by deploying new intermediate-range missiles in Europe. The U.S. announced this month that it would withdraw from the treaty, claiming Russia violated the Cold War pact. So what kind of missiles are we talking about here? During a state-of-the-nation address, Putin praised the development of Russia's new Zircon missile that he claimed could fly at nine times the speed of sound with a range of 620 miles. Russia's ready for disarmament talks with the U.S., Putin said, "but we won't knock on the closed door anymore.” Hospital records could save her life. She can't get them. A 21-year-old college student could die because she can't get copies of her own medical records. The files are locked away in a repossessed electronic-records system while creditors of bankrupt Florence Hospital at Anthem and Gilbert Hospital bicker over who should pay for access to them. Even if she paid for her own medical records, she couldn't get them. More than 300 patients have requested medical records without success since the hospitals shut down in June, court records show. The medical records are the only thing standing between her and a life-saving surgery by a top physician at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Hate groups hit a record high Propelled by a rise in extremism, the number of hate groups active in the U.S. rose to its highest level in two decades last year. According to a new Southern Poverty Law Center study, active hate groups climbed to 1,020 last year, up from 784 just four years earlier. Groups range from white supremacists to black nationalists, and neo-Nazis to neo-confederates. The tally, however, is controversial: It gives the same hate label to the Conservative Republicans of Texas that's branded anti-gay as it does to outfits like the Ku Klux Klan. (The Ku Klux Klan appears to be in decline, the report said.) Real quick Supreme Court: Curb excessive fines The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that states can't impose excessive fees, fines and forfeitures as criminal penalties. The unanimous decision makes clear that the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against "excessive fines" applies to states and localities as well as the federal government. Why that matters: State and local governments increasingly use funds collected in cases to pay for their services. The court's ruling could cut that down. Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, back this week from cancer surgery, wrote the majority opinion. West Virginia teachers walk out. Again. A year ago, West Virginia teachers went on strike and sparked a national movement. What did they get out of it? The historic strike defied union leaders and inspired walkouts from Oklahoma to Arizona to Los Angeles, but it didn’t accomplish much back home. This month, re-elected West Virginia Republicans tried to restrict teacher unions and tie teachers’ raises to the opening of the state’s inaugural charter schools. So teachers are back where they were at this time last year – on strike. This is a compilation of stories from across the USA TODAY Network. Want The Short List straight to your inbox? Sign up, and tell your friends.<doc-sep>Vladimir Putin has warned Moscow will match any US move to deploy nuclear missiles closer to Russia by placing its own missiles closer to the US or by deploying new, faster missiles. The Russian president issued a clear message to American politicians in his annual state of the nation address. "Let them calculate the range and speed of our weapons systems," he said. "Only then should they make decisions that pose a serious threat to our country." It is one step further than he has gone before. Advertisement If the US was to place intermediate-range missiles in Europe pointing in Russia's direction, Russia has made clear it would respond. Today Mr Putin added that it would not just be the host countries for those missile defence systems which Russia would draw into range but those countries where the decision-makers are based. Europe is most immediately at risk but the US would be targeted too. Image: Mr Putin said the US should assess Russia's weapons before making decisions Russia has long professed regret over the steady dismantling of the Cold War-era security architecture, first the US decision to withdraw from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in 2002 and now from the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. To the US and NATO, that regret is entirely disingenuous as is the position President Putin repeated today that Russia's military build-up is purely defensive. As each side trades accusations over who breached the treaty, this speech was a reminder, just in case anyone needed it, that Russia will be ready for a more dangerous, post-INF world. But this was a shorter and altogether less belligerent address than last year's. The bulk was devoted to domestic issues, an attempt to win over a public increasingly on edge after last year's massively unpopular pension reforms and a general squeeze on living standards. Mr Putin must have reckoned he would do better with promises to fill fridges than flood TV screens with images of hypersonic missiles. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player US accuses Russia of missile treaty violation He also touched on one theme he has touched on before - economic crimes and the propensity for businessmen in Russia to sit behind bars on potentially trumped up charges. Honest businesses should not have to fear criminal prosecution, he said. One of Russia's most prominent foreign investors, Michael Calvey of private equity fund Baring Vostok, is doing just that. He and five others were arrested last week on embezzlement charges. Their request for bail and house arrest was promptly rejected. The case has shocked the investment community. Former finance minister Alexei Kudrin called it an "emergency" for the Russian economy. The Kremlin has tried to distance the president from the affair, saying the matter must follow due process in the courts. This is as close as Russia's president has come to commenting. It followed a long directive to the government to promote entrepreneurialism, invest in start-ups and shape a new digital economy. That is exactly what private equity fund Baring Vostok has done for the past 25 years. The way Calvey's case goes from here may indicate whether Mr Putin wants to reduce business risk for foreigners too or whether he has calculated the cost and decided he just does not need them anymore.<doc-sep>
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Wednesday that Moscow will target the U.S. with its new hypersonic missiles if the Trump administration follows its scrapping of a key arms control agreement by deploying new intermediate-range missiles in Europe. In his state-of-the-nation address to Russian lawmakers, Putin said Russia was ready for talks with the U.S. on disarmament issues, "but we won't knock on the closed door anymore," Russia's state-owned TASS news agency reported. The Trump administration announced in early February that it would withdraw from the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty over what it said was Russian violation of the Cold War pact. The INF Treaty, signed in 1987 by President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, covers deployed and non-deployed ground-based short-range missiles (from 310–620 miles) and intermediate-range missiles (from 620-3,420 miles.) Such weapons were seen as particularly destabilizing as they only take a few minutes to reach their targets, leaving no time for decision-makers and raising the likelihood of a global nuclear conflict over a false launch warning. In abandoning the treaty, Trump accused Moscow of violating the agreement with “impunity” by deploying banned missiles. Trump said in a statement that the U.S. will “move forward” with developing its own military response options to Russia’s deployment of banned cruise missiles that could target Western Europe. Putin, addressing the Russian Federal Assembly, denied the charges of treaty violations but said the Kremlin would respond with new weapons aimed at the U.S. if Washington deploys new missiles in Europe. The Russian leader also warned that Russia would not only aim its new, modern weapons at any country hosting any newly deployed weapons, but also at the U.S. itself. "I will say it directly and explicitly so that no one could reproach us about anything and so that everyone could understand what we are talking about here," he said. "Russia will be forced to create and deploy those types of weapons, which could be used not only against those regions from where we will face a direct threat, but also against those regions, hosting the centers, where decisions are taken on using those missile systems threatening us," His not-so-veiled threat included praise for the development of Russia's new Zircon missile that he claimed could fly at nine times the speed of sound with a range of 620 miles. He said the Zircon could be deployed on ships and submarines, including seven new multi-purpose subs that Russia will roll out over the new two or three years. Putin also praised Russia's new nuclear-powered cruise missiles and nuclear-powered underwater drones that have undergone successful testing. Noting that any U.S. intermediate-range missiles deployed in Europe would take only 10 to 12 minutes to hit Moscow, Putin said such steps would "sharply deteriorate international security and create serious threats to Russia." "This is a very serious danger to us," he added. "In this case, we will be forced, and I want to stress this, we will be forced to envisage tit-for-tat and asymmetric measures. "We need peace, and the entire effort on increasing our defensive capacity will pursue just one goal: It is aimed at ensuring security of our country and citizens so that no one could think about aggression against Russia and even try to use the methods of military pressure against our country," he said. In a separate presentation Wednesday, TASS reported, Russian defense minister Sergei Shoigu said the advanced weapons Putin has touted in the past have already been developed and some put into operation. He said the weapons are "hundreds of times cheaper" to deploy than either the older Russian system or the U.S. missile defense system and that Russia would be able to keep up in any new arms race with the U.S. Contributing: Associated Press