You're reading: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Putin vows to react to NATO buildup but avoid costly arms race

NATO's military buildup near Russia's borders has thrown off the balance of forces there, President Vladimir Putin said, vowing to respond without getting into a costly arms race. NATO has revealed its anti-Russian intentions by deploying forces in Poland and the Baltics and building missile-defense sites there, Putin told a gathering of Russian diplomats in Moscow on June 30.

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