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MOSCOW, October 12 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for expanding the Russia-U.S. agreement on the scrapping of short and medium-range ballistic missiles to other countries.
"These Russian-American agreements must become global," the Russian leader said at a meeting with Russian and U.S. foreign and defense ministers ahead of consultations on the U.S. missile shield in Moscow. "Otherwise, it will be difficult for us to remain within the agreement when other countries are developing such weapons, including countries near our borders."
Putin said the agreement was 20 years old, but involved only the U.S. and Russia as the successor of the Soviet Union.
