Russian president says Moscow has developed new line of nuclear-capable weapons that can breach US defences

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Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia had developed and was testing a new line of strategic, nuclear-capable weapons that would be able to outmanoeuvre US antiballistic missile defences, suggesting a new arms race between Moscow and the west.

Speaking in a nationally televised address to Russia's political elite, the president showed both video and animation of Russian ICBMs, cruise missiles, and other weapons that he said Russia had developed as a result of the US pulling out of the 1972 antiballistic missile treaty signed with the Soviet Union.

"You didn't listen to our country then," Putin said during the speech, where he said that some of the weapons were already being tested. "Listen to us now."

The remarks came during a state of the union speech heavy on economic promises for the Russian people and sabre-rattling against the US in a presentation widely viewed as Putin's first stump speech for Russian elections, set for 18 March. He is expected to win a fourth term as president.

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