In his speech, Putin said deployment of a U.S. missile defense system in Central Europe could trigger a new spiral of the arms race. He also said the U.S. ignores the basic principles of international law and is striving to impose its own rules on other countries, and added that NATO expansion toward Russian borders has nothing to do with ensuring security in Europe or fighting terrorism.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said following Putin's Munich remarks, "One cold war was quite enough."
"It has nothing to do with a "cold war", but simply the expression of responsibility for the world's fate, which we want to decide together, collectively, as there can be no other decision if we want to establish a stable world in accord with everybody's interests," Sergei Lavrov told Russian journalists.
Commenting on western media statements that the Russian president's Munich speech united the EU and the U.S. before the face of a common enemy, the Russian minister said these are attempts to present what is desired for what is real.
Lavrov said some politicians are trying to overcome the split between Europe and the U.S. that followed the Iraq war, at the expense of Russia.
The Russian minister also dismissed allegations that Russia pursued imperial policies in ex-Soviet states and used energy resources as a political leverage to promote its national interests.
