Days before he is to join the Group of Eight (G-8) gathering of the world's industrialized powers in Germany, Russian President Vladimir Putin again criticized US plans to install a missile defense system in Eastern Europe.
America's missile shield plans would "increase the possibility of unleashing a nuclear conflict" Putin said according to the advance copy of an interview on German news magazine Der Spiegel that was to be published on Monday.
"They want to create a protective barrier against something that does not exist," Putin said, adding that the US was "forcing a reaction" from Moscow.
On Tuesday, Russia tested an intercontinental ballistic missile that Moscow said could elude any defence system, and Putin warned that the planned US missile shield would turn Europe into a "powder keg."
Putin, warmly welcomed by fellow members of the G-8 group of global powers shortly after his election in 2000, has in recent years found himself engaged in bitter quarrels with other members, especially the US. And he makes little effort to disguise his disgruntlement with the G-8's brand of global politics.
At the same time, the West has grown increasingly disenchanted with Putin, whom some critics accuse of steering Russia toward authoritarianism and isolation, and of driving his country's relations with Western democracies to a post-Soviet low.
The three-day summit, Wednesday to Friday at the Baltic Sea resort of Heiligendamm, will bring together leaders of the United States, Britain, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Russia, and Japan.