Same as it Ever Was

Same as it Ever Was: Delivering his seventh state of the nation address to the Russian parliament Wednesday, President Vladimir Putin described the US as a “fortress” and urged his country to spend more on its military. According to a BBC report of the address, Putin said that because Americans consider “home is their castle,” Russians “should build our own house strongly and reliably.” Putin also warned that it was “premature to speak of the end of the arms race” in the world. He added that new types of weaponry would allow Russia to maintain what is one of the most “significant guarantees of world stability, namely, the preservation of the strategic balance of forces.”