Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned on 30 November that a new arms race could develop if Russia and the West cannot agree on a joint missile defence programme. Medvedev made the statement during his annual State of the Nation address to the Russian lower house of parliament. He said that Russia and the West had a decade to reach a constructive agreement on missile defence, or a new phase of the arms race would begin. His statement was reaffirmed by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin during an interview with CNN on 1 December, in which he added that a failure by the US to ratify the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) would also mean Russia would be forced to build up its nuclear forces. During a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council on 20 November, Medvedev agreed in principle to co-operate with the NATO-wide missile defence programme. He also suggested creating a "sector-based system", with Russia taking responsibility for missiles travelling over its territory and NATO's European members assuming responsibility for those travelling over their states, without the need for systems to be actually combined. However, it is unlikely this proposal would match NATO plans. Both sides also urged caution, pointing out that the technical details remained uncertain.
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