Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov is confident that his country has the means to protect itself against the sprawling US missile defense system, which is not just limited to Russia's neck of the woods. "We are closely monitoring the work of our colleagues and understand its vector,” Serdyukov said in an interview published in Itogi journal. “Russia's state military program, which looks ahead until 2020, solves many tasks and will help neutralize threats created by the US global missile defense network.” The United States, as the military powerhouse behind the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), has refused Russia's assistance in building the latest leg of it global missile defense system, which Russia warns could spark another arms race without some sort of agreement. Last year, former President Dmitry Medvedev announced plans to deploy Iskander missiles in Russia's westernmost Kaliningrad Region in order to counter the threat posed by the US system. The US missile defense system has neither geographical nor technological limitations. This has some military observers warning that Russia could eventually find itself surrounded by a ring of NATO radar and missiles.
