US missile systems in Alaska, S Korea challenge Russia: Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that elements of a US anti-missile system in Alaska and South Korea were a challenge to Russia and that Moscow had no choice but to build up its own forces in response. Putin, speaking at an economic forum in St Petersburg, said Russia could not stand idly by and watch while others increased their military capabilities along its borders in the Far East in the same way as he said had been done in Europe.

He said Moscow was particularly alarmed by the deployment of the US THAAD anti-missile system to S Korea to counter a North Korean missile threat and to reported US plans to beef up Fort Greely in Alaska, a launch site for anti-ballistic missiles. "This destroys the strategic balance in the world," Putin told a meeting with international media, the start of which was broadcast on state TV