Russia's weakened military status will invite other coun-tries—specifically, the United States—to push it around, so a new arms buildup is warranted, Russian President Vladimir Putin asserted in his seventh state-of-the-nation address on May 10. "It is premature to speak of the end of the arms race," Putin said, noting that the US spends 25 times as much on its military as Russia does. He called for sharp increases in the production of aircraft and ships and said Russia's military revitalization is already under way. "A few years ago," Putin said, "the armed forces were no longer receiving any modern equipment." He noted that no new ships were built between 1996 and 2000, that exercises were only carried out "on maps," and that the war in Chechnya illustrated the woeful condition of Russian forces.
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