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Putin attacks 'very dangerous' US
Russian President Vladimir Putin has attacked the United States for what he said was its "almost uncontained" use of force around the world. America's "very dangerous" approach to global relations was fuelling a nuclear arms race, he told a security summit.Correspondents say the strident speech may signal a more assertive Russia. Mr Putin told senior security officials from around the world that nations were "witnessing an almost uncontained hyper use of force in international relations". "One state, the United States, has overstepped its national borders in every way," the Russian president said. "This is very dangerous. Nobody feels secure anymore because nobody can hide behind international law," he said, speaking through a translator. "This is nourishing an arms race with the desire of countries to get nuclear weapons." BBC defence and security correspondent Rob Watson, in Munich, said Mr Putin's speech was a strident performance. It may well be remembered as a turning point in international relations and a sign of a more assertive Russia, our correspondent says. Western leaders in the audience, including Mrs Merkel, looked decidedly glum-faced when President Putin had finished, our correspondent adds. Earlier German chancellor Angela Merkel told delegates there was "no way around" the need for Tehran to accept demands from the UN and nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). "What we are talking about here is a very, very sensitive technology, and for that reason we need a high degree of transparency, which Iran has failed to provide, and if Iran does not do so then the alternative for Iran is to slip further into isolation," she said. Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani is among delegates at the conference. Mr Larijani was set to tell delegates that Iran wants nuclear power, not nuclear weapons. "We believe the Iranian nuclear dossier is resolvable by negotiation," Mr Larijani was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying on the sidelines of the conference. European diplomats are hoping to hold informal talks with Mr Larijani at the two-day summit. It would be their first meeting since the collapse of talks last year and the imposition of limited UN sanctions on Tehran for its failure to stop the enrichment of uranium. Posted by: tipper 2007-02-10 |
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