Russian strategic missile troops commander, Col. Gen. Vladimir Yakovlev has spoken out against the creation of a global anti-missile defense system.
In an interview with RTR Sunday he said, “this senseless waste of money would not bring the world to stability” but on the contrary would lead to the so-called “nuclear anarchy” when “a whole number of countries” would seek to have or upgrade nuclear weapons or develop “means of overcoming anti-ballistic defenses.”
At the same time, depending on an adopted political decision, Yakovlev believes Russia along with the U.S. and Europe could create “an ABM system against new threats.”
“The scientific advances and the testing experience that Russia has makes the development of this system possible,” he predicted.
“It is important in this respect whose funds will be attracted,” he added.
“We can now speak about new (nuclear) threats. “We now have information about five-eight threshold states (those on the threshold of the creation of nuclear weapons and means of their delivery),” the general said.
He refused to identify these countries but agreed that “the biggest threats come exactly from them.” “It is now too early to speak about this, but 2015-2025 will be just about the right time,” the commander said.
“If a political decision were adopted, we could work on the creation of a joint global system within the framework of a non- strategic ABM,” Yakovlev said.
