Putin Blames the Americans

During his seventh annual Kremlin address, Russian president Vladimir Putin called upon the citizens' patriotic sentiment, stating that Russia is being heavily challenged as far as military equipment is concerned by what he labeled as "fortress America", using this term in order to better highlight its high defense spending.

Nevertheless, he promised that the country will overcome the American "obstacle" and develop a more active and powerful army than US, whom he blamed that is far more interested in keeping its own spheres of influence than in upholding democracy and human rights.

"It is premature to speak of the end of the arms race. New types of weapons are enabling us to preserve what is one of the most important guarantees of a stable world - preserving the strategic balance of forces.", he said, motivating Russian willingness to improve military equipment due to modern threats.

Russia has gathered approximately 300 billion dollars in savings during the past eight years due to military equipment development and improvement in order to be able to cope with global perils allegedly raised by former Cold war enemies.

During his speech, Putin also advanced several measures to improve Russia's decreasing birthrate. He stated that a special department of the state budget will be set up in 2007 that will pay 1500 roubles monthly to families who have their first child, and double that sum for those who have a second child.