Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Thursday that Russia will impose a moratorium on an arms control deal with NATO. Conflict over plans by the United States to build a missile defense shield in Europe continues to grow, with Moscow proving resistant to American attempts to include Russia and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice slowly losing patience with the “Soviets.” The rhetoric heated up Thursday as Putin, in his annual speech to both houses of parliament, said he was suspending Russia’s obligations under the 1990 Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty, in response to the US missile shield plans. He said the NATO signatories to the treaty were not respecting it, and criticized US plans to locate elements of the anti-missile defense shield in Eastern Europe, saying they create “real dangers and possibly unpleasant surprises.” The US claims that the planned missile shield is intended to protect the US and its European allies from a ballistic missile attack from a so-called “rogue” state such as Iran.

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